Schwarz Blitz
by Monou Hakkai
Summary: WK x SM focuses on Schwarz. While living in Osaka, Makoto's life easily loses its boredom and becomes full of action and trouble. She meets four mysterious men who have taken an interest in her
1. ch 1

Schwarz Blitz 1

By: Makoto Almasy

Rating: PG13/R

Summary: Weiß Kreuz/SM. While having a life in Osaka, Makoto's life easily loses its boredom and becomes full of action (and trouble). She realises that there are mysterious men who have taken an interest in her.

Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz doesn't belong to me.

----

Kino Makoto had a subtle scowl drawn all over her face while her fingers tapped in a repetitive rhythm against the long glass of orange juice. She couldn't stop thinking so much tonight, especially in this place. Makoto had been living in Osaka for about a month now and these days she had been suffering classic homesickness. Why did she bother leaving Juuban in the first place?

That was the regretful question she kept on asking herself tonight as she stared at her half filled drink.

Juuban had no lively atmosphere like it used to during Makoto's schooldays. The town had become too quiet. People had lost their will to be happy or to spend time with their friends through sleepovers. This was what drove her to leave the town and move to somewhere like Osaka. She had heard there were lots of job opportunities here. She chose to not study at a university like the others. How could she? She wasn't as successful as her friends were. Ami had a placement in Germany to study a doctorate. Usagi had married Mamoru and moved to America to live together. Minako and Rei had a new contract with a music company and started a duet career.

It clearly seemed that everyone had moved on in their lives whilst Makoto had nothing exciting to do. None of the colleges had any more placements in Home Economics and the only solution left to survive was to get a job. Makoto did manage to find a part-time job in a local café but the starting pay was lousy. She had a strong feeling she wasn't going to last long in this post even if it was for less than two months. Her workaholic personality insisted that she kept this job until the time was right to move on to find a better career for her.

Well though she had bravely decided to stay with this job temporarily, Makoto had to also devise leisure activities to cheer her up; especially at night. Hell, she had had tiny cravings to fight more people and nine times out of ten her wish came true every night. Each evening involved a punch or kick to the weak parts of the opponent and then a quiet journey back home to celebrate her victory. So far ten robbers tried to grab her wallet but they were blind to her true ability and ended up with black eyes and no cash. She should work as a policewoman, shouldn't she? It wouldn't be surprising to find that this town were full of robbers who didn't know the proper technique of a forward punch or a roundhouse kick. In other words she had a hunch this town was full of stupid fighters.

It would be great to have a long-lasting fight for a change. She needed to be given something to do. A challenge. Sure she did a lot of chores in the café though they didn't have the same feel as fighting. Whoa she sounded like she had become a big bully. A contrast to who she was in school where she fought against bullies. Her goody two shoes side insisted that she kept aggressive behaviour a secret and not let anyone know what she could do. The last thing she needed was being the intimidating sort towards the public. Makoto vigorously swallowed the rest of her orange juice, picked up the empty glass and headed towards the bartender to pay.

Her moodiness affected her normal hearing level as she paid most of her attention in getting the money out from her inside leather jacket. The night was still early. Fighter senses begun to tell her she had to be on the lookout for trouble when it came. Her sensitivity always kicked in wherever she went. It was automatic in her system. But it was a worthwhile tool though. At least it kept her alert most of the time.

Makoto passed the empty glass to the bartender and then her notes, "Keep the change." She didn't pay attention to the surprised expression on the bartender's face as she turned away to leave.

"Hmm…not alcoholic, are you?" A man asked her. Startled by the new voice, Makoto glanced to the other direction to see who was talking to her. The talker had outrageously orangey red hair that was about the same length as her natural brunette strands when not in a ponytail. From smelling his breath distantly and looking at the tall empty glass by his hand, Makoto was certain he had too much to drink tonight and was generally a pathetic drunkard who had hentai ideas. How many drinks did he have? Maybe three glasses, she guessed.

Hearing the sarcasm in the man's voice gave her the impression he was making fun of her just because she didn't drink strong alcohol like most peers her age would. Did he think she was underage and wanted to dare her into drinking highly alcoholic beverages that could damage your livers? Or was he just trying to piss her off? Huffing in offence, Makoto stormed off, unhappy with the teasing from the unknown gentleman.

She didn't have to look back to see him smiling ridiculously from his own joke. Why was it that people mocked you if you didn't act like them in the same social way? So what if she wasn't alcoholic! Makoto was in no mood to be teased. She could have punched that bastard in the face but it wouldn't make a difference. She was too moody to fight _Ignore him...ignore that..._. Her angry mind cursed on and on while she exited.

You just called me a drunken bastard. Nice Schuldig read the brunette girl's mind briefly. That girl was easy to piss off. She was definitely the sensitive type of person. Sensitive people made mind games fun for the Mastermind. He was surprised by her unusually tall height for a woman and had no heels on at all. As she slowly distanced away from him, Schuldig went deeper into her thoughts. Let's see what makes you moody The German decided.

It didn't take him long to get the necessary information on this rude girl. He was surprised that most of her mind had clouds of violence, aggression and plenty of fighting beliefs. Well that explained her bad temper. Was this a fifth assassin of Weiß? Ha, as if a woman could be anything like those pretty Weiss boys. Dream on, Schuldig. He found it enjoyable to read the violent side of this girl. She was totally rough. It looked like she had a lot on her mind.

"Schuldig?" Bradley Crawford's recognisable tone interrupted the German's mind reading. Watching the Japanese girl eventually disappear from the bar, Schuldig turned back to the American (who had just returned from his quick trip to the men's room). Crawford had his eyebrows arced upwards curiously. Oracle must have a clear idea on what Mastermind was up to.

Schuldig giggled sneakily, "I found something out about a girl I spoke to a minute ago."

"Oh," Crawford said. "Is it something I would be interested to know?"

"The girl is rough. Very…very rough," The German spoke slowly, empathising his adjectives bit by bit and smiling at each word said. Crawford snorted a little. He wasn't exactly impressed with what Schuldig had found out. So what if a girl was rough? Most women were rough because they were damn bossy and screamed their heads off in arguments. It was no surprise all females had a violent or bad-tempered side.

Crawford grimaced as he watched Schuldig getting excited over an aggressive female. He knew how the German around women he considered attractive. Even the opposite gender had their eyes on the foreigner when they spotted him and his American friend. Crawford pondered further about what Schuldig discovered about this Japanese girl. Surely he can't have found out so much about her in a minute of mind reading. Though it wasn't wise to underestimate his team members so often, was it? Perhaps he ought to let Schuldig have some fun for a change. After all Schwarz weren't always together so Crawford wasn't exactly an official leader all the time. However he still got ticked if Schuldig had silly ideas on having fun. It just bugged him.

"Crawford, she isn't like the sluts that come here and let themselves get drunk," The German explained. "This girl can really fight. Punch, kick, somersault…oh you name it." He laughed stupidly.

"What are you going to do now?" Oracle asked suspiciously, ignoring the stupid laughter from the German.

Schuldig jumped off his stool, his hands hiding in the pockets of his trousers as he casually stood up, "I'm going after her," He smirked playfully. "Perhaps introduce myself then do…something."

/Don't get too caught up in your fun, Schuldig and forgot who we really are/ The American warned. The German rolled his eyes boringly then replied /Not too worry, daddy. I'll be a good boy/. A wink was what he added to finalise his humorous comment.

Swirling on his white loafers, the telepath waved his hand behind him to Crawford and quietly left the busy bar. This was going to be fun. He hadn't been amused in a long time. The prostitutes he had seen these days in Osaka turned out to no fun at all. However this Japanese girl particularly struck him because she could stand on her own feet. Perhaps she would be a bigger challenge for Schuldig. He was undoubtedly confident this female had something to offer the German.

TBC


	2. ch 2

Schwarz Blitz 2

Rating: PG13/R

Disclaimer: Koyasu Takehito owns Weiss.  SM is Takeuchi Naoko's creation.

AN: Unless you didn't know already, the story name means black lightning.  

****

"YOU BITCH!" The thug cursed, his back smacked hard against the brick wall.  He felt the strong impact hit behind his cranium, causing a brief vision of dizzy stars to appear in front of his dazed eyes.  He looked down at his hand and spotted the tiny cut appearing on the palm.  Makoto went into a balanced back stance as she stood before the crouching robber.  This was the eleventh robber to cross her path in the last month.  She could tell she had been going up against a very large gang.  Each time someone crept behind her it was either to steal her money or to provoke her into a fight. 

Makoto's left hand was in a knife-hand block as she stared at the exhausted thug, "Oh come on, you want my money, don't you? Just like your other friends!" Her emerald irises enlarged tauntingly at the man.  It didn't come as a shock to her when she noticed how young he looked.  Maybe only about seventeen years old.  Not as old sounding as her very own age of twenty years.  If these young gangsters thought they could get anywhere near her oh shit they were wrong.  The last ten men who attempted to mug her failed miserably.  From looking closely at this current opponent, Makoto could tell the boy was a junkie.  His pale skin and long chin gave tell tale signs.  And his arms had leftover scars all over.

"This will be my only warning," She began, "Tell your posse to not come near me *anymore*.  I'm getting sick of you all."  

"Well we're getting sick of you, you slut," the boy argued.  What the hell did he just call her? A slut, was it? Since when did she ever dress like a slut? Hardly.  Makoto dressed in simple garments.  She never dressed up like women did if they were in the prostitution market.  No one had ever insulted her like that.  This was definitely a first.  She could handle being called bitch but slut was another offensive word she had barely come across in front of her face.  Makoto's eyebrows lowered angrily and a right smack to the boy's left cheek was enough to send his head to the ground.  His cheek reddened and Makoto knew his mouth had become numb from her attack.  Good riddance too.  

"Take my word, boy.  I do hit hard.  You should have known that by now," She said in an 'I told you so' tone.  "Get out of here.  Forget about stealing my money because I don't have any on me."

The boy covered his bruised face and ran off back into the middle of the town, away from the vicious vixen that had given him a hard night.  Makoto sighed annoyingly while she tidied her cotton combat trousers from the dust sticking onto the material.  Why was it that some of the robbers who had lost against her ended up stupid in their brain? Couldn't there be anyone who was smart enough to give her a decent fight? Whoa she sounded desperate for some action.  Better take it easy, Mako-chan.  Be careful what you wish for as the saying went. 

She decided to make her way back home and get ready for work tomorrow morning.  Another day in the kitchen.  Sounded like fun – only when someone didn't boss over your shoulder every second.  God how she didn't want to face the vain supervisor, who thought she could order Makoto around.  Makoto hadn't had the chance to slap her bitchy face yet.  It was tempting, yes, but so far none of the other colleagues working with her had any idea she was aggressive in real life.  She had an angelic façade.              

Makoto stopped walking when she sensed a pair of footsteps behind her.  Was it the same guy again? Why couldn't they get the point? Why couldn't they understand that they couldn't beat her? They may as well pick on someone else who wouldn't be so violent to them.  Well if they did find another victim, they were likely to meet Makoto's fists again when they see her act in defence.  She heard the footsteps again only this time it was quieter. 

"OK you're really pissing me off here," She warned huffily and rubbed her hands over her face boringly and swirling around on her heels. "Come out and I'll finish you off for real this time." Preparing a light speed punch, her head swirled around.  But the attack collided with nothing except the air.  In front of her there was nothing as well.  Only the gentle wind crashing onto her cheeks was what she could feel.  Everything else such as the telephone box and wooden bench was as stationary as her.  Perhaps she was seeing things and acting too sensitive tonight.  Was her mind finally losing its control during her one-month stay here? 

Makoto groaned, "Shit, I'm losing it since moving here! Grr…I'm really most truly…" She lifted her hands from her forehead to look upwards however automatically gasped at the new person who stood adjacently to her slim physique.  All she could see were the middle buttons of the black jacket.  Her green eyes ascended to the face, taking in the nose, eyes, cheeks and the huge grin on the man.      

"So…you really are a rough girl," He stated generally.  A growl escaped her lips when she distinguished the figure standing opposite her.  It was the rude drunkard with orange hair.  What the hell was he doing here? Was he part of the 'Let's rob Mako-chan' posse? 

"What do you want?" Makoto went into a front stance, her fists defensively rising to her chest.  

"Whoa, take it easy, Fraulein," He said, his hands ascending in the air as if surrendering.  Fraulein.  So he's not Japanese She thought in puzzlement, taking in the clothes he wore properly this time.  He looked like he was part of a gang club such as the Yokuza, someone with a lot of money and possibly a lot of women to sleep with each night.  The grin on his face seemed off-putting to Makoto while she stared at him angrily.  His eyes looked like they were looking through her skin and bones.  It was truly scary.  

"Yes I'm not Japanese," He answered. "I'm German as a matter of fact.  Ich heiße Schuldig." Makoto pulled back even more.  She didn't say anything else except the question.  How did he know what she had just thought? Dammit this was so much like 'The X Files' it started to bug her big time.  She shouldn't have stayed up late each night to watch the series.  None of these crazy ideas would get into her head deeply.  She told herself to wake up and keep her eyes alert on this other man.  Makoto may not be a professional linguist but she guessed he had introduced himself to her.  So his name was *Schuldig*, was it? What a strange name; whatever it meant.  Then again he said he was German.  But boy he sure showed he could speak her native Japanese language.  

It didn't feel like it was long ago since he teased her in the bar.  Maybe half an hour ago at least.  Was he still drunk? Getting a more enhanced glare in, Makoto couldn't see late signs of heavy drinking.  Hence he looked…sober.  Or was he not drunk at all previously? Something wasn't right.  Warning bells screamed danger in Makoto's brain and she wasn't sure what to do at the moment.  She had to get answers.  

"I watched you fight the junkie just now," The German replied, walking round her and not taking his gaze off her hair and face. "Not a bad fighter for a girl." He loved observing the movement of her deep emerald eyes when she followed his every direction.  It proved she was certainly a sharp person who barely took her eyes off the opponent.  

"Why thank you," Makoto added sarcastically.  The next minute went by in a flash.  Her hands held onto the lapels of his double-breasted jacket and her power pushed his thin body against the wall of the building.  Schuldig let out a grunt in reaction.  Not only was she unusually tall but also she had strength hardly any female displayed in fighting.  Schreient had no chance in hell of taking this lovely Bishoujo on.  The fight could involve agility, yes, but when it came to physical power this girl was the winner.  This girl had one heck of a glare.  Schuldig could look into her green eyes for hours if he had the desire.   

"I'll show you and your buddies a reason to not mess with me." Makoto gripped his lapels violently.  

"Ooh I'm shaking," Schuldig grinned.  In a blind action, he knocked his fists onto the front of Makoto's hands, forcing the fingers to release their grips off his lapels.  Makoto's hands briefly ached from the nerve point strike.  No one ever used that technique on her before.  Who was this guy?  

"What the hell?" Recovering swiftly, she ran in with a roundhouse elbow to Schuldig's right shoulder.  To her horror his hand casually caught it and his fingers curled around her elbow.  Shit this guy must know martial arts too.  Not many were brave enough to defend like that. 

Schuldig smirked widely as his face showed above her caught elbow.  Makoto cursed under her breath, pulled her elbow back and started attacking normally as before.  A side thrust kick came in but Schuldig moved away in time.  He didn't have to move his entire body to dodge the kick coming at him.  Even with the second incoming kick to his face.  Makoto tried to grab and push him down into an arm bar though he merely slid away from her attempted grab as if a sliding door.  This guy had agility she had never met in her life.  

Stay still! She moaned impatiently.  He moved so fast it began to make her dizzy and slowly caused her to get an imperfect vision of him.  Eventually she wasn't able to see him in the dark and the fighting had moved down the street; away from any bright lampposts.  Where was he?! She could merely hear the wind blowing by her ears and it felt like she was the only person down the street until all of a sudden she shortly yelped once a strong arm wrapped around her neck and shoulders.  Fuck, she was a goner now.  Her right arm was restricted behind her back by Schuldig's other arm in a tight hold. 

Schuldig's face rested on Makoto's right shoulder, "Aw, Makoto don't tell you me you're unable to catch up with my speed.  This wouldn't be any fun for either one of us."

"H-how did you know my name?" She asked in a stammer, feeling his cheek close to her neck as his thin face leaned on her shoulder heavily.  She couldn't move her arms at all.  What disturbed her was feeling the looser strands of his long fringe tickle her cheek.  This German dude was smarter and tougher than she was and it gave her the creeps.  

"I've studied everything about you, Fraulein," Schuldig summarised calmly.  He gently removed the grip on her right arm, loosened his hold around her shoulders and neck (allowing her to breathe properly) and jumped away from her.  Makoto felt the breeze tickle the back of her neck when he soared.  It was proof that he was very agile. "I know who you are."

She gasped in horror and pivoted her body to find him but his figure was nowhere to be seen.  Damn the dark for being inconvenient at this time.  And damn Schuldig for escaping before Makoto had the chance to ask what he knew about her.  How the hell was he so fast? He was like a super soldier trained in the army.  Makoto knew she couldn't catch up with this German.  No matter how tempting it was to go after him.    

He had disturbed her twice tonight.  How was it he could do that? It was as though he knew how to intimidate her senses. He had to be inhuman.  Why else could he have super agility? Makoto was full of questions, she had lost track of time.  Now she had something to worry about.  If he spread word around Osaka about her being a violent female she was in serious shit and she would have to definitely leave this town as soon as possible.  It was most likely that she would bump into him again.  Strangely, Makoto was looking forward to their next encounter.  She could get another piece of him, couldn't she?  

TBC

This was supposed to be part of the first chapter but I thought it would be too long and decided to split it.  I hope the story doesn't sound too cliché, compared to the other WK/SM crossovers ^^;; should it be cliché or sound utterly boring then I'll happily stop.  No problem. 


	3. ch 3

Schwarz Blitz 3

Rating: PG13 

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

****

Crawford opened the door to the passenger seat of the limo for Schuldig to climb in. The German slammed the door behind him, the noise echoing against the shop window glasses. 

/So. How was it?/ Oracle asked. Mastermind sighed satisfactorily and stretched his arms out. Even in the dark, Crawford could still spot the familiar smug on his team-mate's face. He usually had that expression everywhere he went. The American guessed he had fun tonight. It was a giveaway. He started the engine of the limo and started to drive in the quiet street. 

/It was great/ Schuldig replied /I knew she was a good fighter from one look at her/. He laughed heartily /Her thoughts are intriguing. She has desires/.

"You sound perverted, Schuldig," Crawford spoke normally.

"Oh I mean it," Schuldig said. "I read her thoughts while we fought. She fights with a lot of…passion." He looked at his own reflection in the mirror. "You should see her for yourself, Crawford. You'll probably like her."

"Hmm…perhaps," Crawford agreed. He didn't seem to be paying attention to his friend as he concentrated on his driving. What Schuldig knew so far about this girl was that she was easy prey – just like those Weiß boys. The one known as Bombay AKA Tsukiyono Omi was a fun victim to toy with, especially about his family. Schuldig enjoyed taunting him about killing his older brothers Masafumi and Hirofumi in the past. Being a telepath and reading people's minds was one of the only things that gave a kick for the German's pleasure. 

I'll find her again. And make her life full of hell Schuldig giggled. 

"What's so funny?" Crawford asked. "Look, I hope you find something out about this girl, Schuldig rather than spend a lot of your time amusing yourself; particularly if you believe she is an asset." 

"Tch, take it easy, Crawford. I'm just humouring myself," Schuldig said, adding an annoyed humph. Some people were so boring.

****

Makoto's afternoon shift was almost up after five hours. Thank goodness! She thought happily while she helped someone make the dessert and ice cream, checking that the cream in the cakes weren't too sweet or too heavily decorated. She had this sort of soft side when it came to dealing with cakes. Makoto could handle serving customers their drinks and food but in that area, she normally received angry comments from her manageress. 

Aki was the unfortunately fierce lady who never in a day was happy. The other three waitresses working with Makoto were generous enough to warn her about Aki's ferocious attitude on her first day. Even when the food was cooked correctly Aki would purposely make some shitty excuse to criticize her employees and make their days bad. It was as though she was on double PMS. Makoto was thankful for the compliments the others gave her when she made the ice cream and cakes delicious. The customers who often came to eat here also complimented her when she told them she made the cakes herself – much to Aki's disgust. 

Makoto guessed that Aki was jealous of her cooking ability and wanted to do whatever she could to make Makoto's days in this job a living hell. There were times when Makoto could have lost control of her coolness and wanted to punch Aki in the face. She may be a few years older than Makoto and supposedly more experienced but that didn't mean she had the right to boss those who were a lower status. The woman wasn't perfectly attractive either. She had heavy eye shadow on everyday and dark red lipstick that was always wonky in all angles of her mouth. That was slut material all right. She thought she was a goddess. Tch, yeah right. 

The other three waitresses, called Yuka, Jun and Mei had cleaned the tables in the café after the last customer left five minutes ago. These three had never argued with their manageress because they feared her. Makoto wondered whether she was the reason for Aki's sudden bitchiness. But what made her stick to this café post were the compliments the colleagues and customers gave her. Compliments on cooking were signs of positive energy, which would mean lots of money earned every month. 

Somehow Makoto had the feeling she had to help the colleagues deal with Aki confidently and be scared of her. Violence wouldn't help her until necessary.

Makoto could hardly ever stop her desire to punch Aki whenever she shouted inconveniently. But assaulting the boss could mean an instant dismissal and Makoto didn't want to ruin her sensible reputation so far. She was glad that most of this town didn't know she was a fighter. Only those who tried to mug her at night were the ones who knew her secret because they found out the hard way. It was their fault really. They underestimated their victims and automatically assumed they were easy to mug.

Speaking of fighting, Makoto's mind cast back to last night. Her mind remembered everything. The fight with the young junkie. The insult of being called slut. It was still in her head. And also 'him'. The German called Schuldig. That was his name, wasn't it? Yeah Makoto was sure of it. He pissed her off all right. She was likely to be the twelfth mugger to attack her. Geez she was so popular for the wrong reasons. But picturing the arrogant smirk of Schuldig suddenly released an instant aggression level, tempting her to give him a rapid combo of kicks and punches. She wanted to hit him hard next time they met up at night. 

She wanted to know what he wanted with her. His answer wasn't precise enough. She was sure he wanted to do something wild or worse. Whoa Mako-chan, since when did you get to be a hentai? She shook her head quickly when Aki approached her and observed her. This boss hated her from the minute she came into this café. Makoto had not expected such a woman to despise her a lot. Aki's eyes widened darkly then she turned on her heels to supervise Jun (who was washing the glasses silently).

Makoto was thankful to Lady Luck for making her day breeze by in the last five hours. Without it, she'd be suffering non-stop bossing by Aki and the last thing she wanted was to hear her nasty manageress' shouting. If she did lose this job or decide to quit it would mean she would be penniless and have nothing to occupy herself with. The best fights occasionally came during the night. That was when the dirty-minded bastards would strike and Makoto would stop them straightaway if she had to. 

"All right that's your day done. Clear out of here now!" Aki screamed to the four waitresses as though they were viruses. She and the others almost forgot how the café belonged to Aki and that she lived here as well. It was unbelievable on how she managed to take over her father's job as the head of his place. She was doing a shit job of it. And it was shocking to see how she could be a real bitch to her employees and a fake friend to the customers. What kind of acting was that? Makoto hated this kind of acting. It honestly sucked.

As the door slammed in front of the four waitresses' faces, everyone sighed angrily and started to curse behind the closed door. 

"I can't take this anymore. She'll drive us all out of the café," Yuka complained. "She can't keep this act up forever. We have to screw her up."

"Screwing her career would mean screwing us up too," Mei corrected. "We'll lose our only jobs." Yuka gasped when she realized what her friend meant. Duh how forgetful could she be? Hearing this made Mei go into a panicky state. The only one who was cool was Makoto. She didn't seem to be in any shaky motion at all and her eyes were sharply staring through the café door. These three had been working longer than Makoto did yet they had more fear than she did. Makoto could take Aki out right now if she chose to. But her voices inside kept telling her it wasn't the right thing to do – unless there was a good enough reason. 

"Hey, if she does it again we WILL complain. It's me she hates the most so I'll deal with it," Makoto ensured. The three waitresses' eyes enlarged shockingly. "Stop worrying, ok? I'm a person of equality. She'll see what she's doing is wrong." Yuka and Jun nodded acceptably before walking off together down the street (Makoto had to order them to go to wake them up from their panicky reactions). They lived in the same road and normally went to work together from start to finish. 

"You're unusually brave for a good cook. How do you do it, man?" Mei inquired. 

Makoto winked, "Be calm is what I tell myself. Even in the kitchen when Aki is breathing down my neck, I still have to be calm and relaxed." That was in fact half-untrue. 

Most of the time she was busy working out how to pummel the bitch and make her squeal in pain. But Makoto had to say some sort of reassuring statement to Mei and cheer her up. It seemed like she took in what the newest waitress was telling her.

Mei yawned. "Need my beauty sleep. " She waved behind her back to Makoto then skipped away. 

Makoto sympathised these three girls. They were the same age as her no doubt and she had to give them credit for trying their best in being brave against Aki. If Usagi worked here oh hell she'd be crying crazily and would want to get out ASAP. Life could never be fair. You always had enemies no matter where you go. Oh man. I can't stop being tired from this job. I should just leave. Aki hates me She buttoned her denim jacket fully and started to step away from the café called Tropical Paradise. Yeah right as if this place was paradise. What crap!

This was no fun café at all. The service may have been good but the manageress was a walking nightmare. Action should have been taken in the first place. What the girls needed was enough confidence. As Makoto strolled down the pavement, she thought she was walking too noisily in her shoes. The rubber soles were squeaky yes though she seldom walked in thick thuds – even as a fighter. Her ears alerted as she walked again. Nope! Her footsteps were perfectly fine. It must be the cars driving past her. 

Makoto looked at her reflection travel by the shop windows while she walked back home to her apartment. Something intrigued her from the window and she moved in closer to take a look. To be more accurate, it wasn't what was on display that concerned her. It was the transport that seemed to have moved with her from the last five minutes. A red car. Makoto thought she was losing her mind. That car had to be following her. Because as soon as she stopped, the car stopped coincidentally too. 

She thought that car was empty since her shift started this morning. What was she to do? To play safe she continued to walk past the shops. And predictably the flashy red car trailed alongside her. Just keep walking. Maybe you can walk faster and get away from the driver Makoto decided thoughtfully. She started to walk speedily, knowing she could risk aching her feet from awkward paces. 'Keep going, keep going' was what kept chanting in her head. That was exactly what she was doing. She changed her usual route back to her apartment and turned into an alleyway that led away from the town centre. It wasn't the same place where she fought last night. This was nearer to her home and led to the back garden where the children in the same neighbourhood played.

Makoto could see the apartment building close ahead. So far so good. It seemed the car wasn't able to keep up with her and went down the road where she would have normally taken, driving past Makoto's apartment directly while Makoto hid behind the secret alleyway. Well that wasn't so bad, was it? She rubbed her feet soothingly and with precaution, walked to her apartment as normal. First Aki, now this driver. This town really loved her presence. She ran up the stairs of her apartment hastily. 

She had to get inside and make sure she was safe from whoever it was in the car. I'll be damned if it was the German dude again Makoto's hand dug into the inside pocket of her denim jacket as she approached the top of the stairs. Boy was she glad to be home. Having Aki shouting down her neck was no friendly therapy to wake her up in the morning. She fiddled her keys out to place it in the lock.

"Guten Tag , meine Fraulein," A foreign accent boomed in the hall.

"Whoa!" Makoto shook from the quick flash of a camera the person had in his hand. Dazed from the bright flash, she dropped the keys by her feet. Her soft brown ponytail swiftly flicked in front of her face as she looked to the stairs leading to the next floor. Schuldig leaned against the wall casually, his face staring at her with deep interest. The guy outsmarted her. He still found her even when she hid from him. Makoto didn't care about her keys. A pair of astonished jade eyes focused on the recognisable visitor standing before her. He looked the same as last night. His long orange red hair was tousled, a cream headband stretched across his forehead with a pair of sunglasses dangling at the top and his eyebrows looked light brown and very sleek as they moved in line with his smirk. His black leather jacket hugged his body completely and it blended in with his mischievous expression, creating a cool yet seductive appearance. 

Makoto couldn't move her muscles. She wasn't sure how she felt right now. Should she be thrilled to see him or perhaps angry that he knew where she lived? This was like talking to a stalker here. 

"Don't you want to open the door?" Schuldig asked and nodded his head to the ground. Makoto's left foot trod on the set of keys and kicked them in the air so she was able to catch it precisely in her right palm. The German whistled impressively. "Very nice."

"Buzz off. I'm not in the mood to talk," Makoto warned Ugh! Who the hell are you? You're a freak. 

/Do you *want* to know who I am and what I do?/ He raised his eyebrows cheekily. Makoto released a brief pant and scrunched her keys harder in her palm to develop a rash in her skin. Did he just speak to her without moving his mouth? Or to put it another way, did he just talk to her through her brain? What the hell was going on here? Hold on…this was probably what he was capable of. He could read minds. Did that mean this was how he found out her name? He seemed to find this funny and it freaked the living shit out of Makoto. Oh how she wished sci-fi hadn't clouded her mind so often. 

"Actually I sure as hell wanna know who you are, Schuldig," Makoto said confidently. "Even if it means beating it out of you." Her fists hung in the air as she stepped towards him. Hmm…she's worried Schuldig didn't flinch a muscle whilst watching the Japanese girl move forward to pull a punch. He innocently lifted his hand to stop her face coming nearer to him. Her face turned into an annoyed scowl and Schuldig thought it was a lovely sight. She wasn't considered bitchy or pathetic like those Schreient girls. She could be twice as smart as them. 

"I'll give you a chance to get another piece of me," Schuldig suggested. "Tonight, ok? How about it? You and me one on one like last night." Makoto pondered this tempting offer and pulled back from him. He did bring up a point. She could pack a bigger punch on him tonight. It would be hard to take him out now because she had finished a long day at work. 

"Where do we meet?" She asked.

"Same place of course." He got up and started to descend down the lower staircase. "You'll find out who I am once our fun gets started." The German laughed then turned back to her. "Oh one other thing." She waited patiently for him to say something. He pointed to her. "You have great legs. It shows in your kicks…and your work uniform." Makoto growled in offence as she watched him laugh hysterically and walk off from her door. That bastard! What kind of sick humour was that supposed to be? 

She wanted to punch him right now. It was becoming irresistible. She wanted to take him out now. Her keys started to poke her palm and Makoto loosened her grip to replace the key back in the lock as before. She had to find out what made him rebellious and nasty (in the teasing sense). Like an FBI agent, Makoto had to investigate this German guy firmly tonight. This fight ought to be worth taking on she thought. 

****

I look forward to seeing you again Schuldig said darkly and passed the freshly developed photograph to his leader. Makoto was going to have another surprise coming her way. It wasn't only Schuldig she'd be facing. It would perhaps include Crawford too (if the German could persuade him hard enough). Besides, how could he not resist a cute looking girl like her? Especially with the photos Schuldig provided him. Mastermind could Oracle saying 'hmm' with slight interest as he stared at the Polaroid photo of the young brunette haired female.

/She is pretty, isn't she?/ Schuldig commented. 

/Hmm…/ Crawford replied. Unexpectedly his head cocked upwards and his eyes enlarged behind the thin glasses. He lowered his chin so it touched his neck and let out a satisfying laugh, smirking sadistically. 

"I just had a vision of this girl," Crawford summarized. "There may be a change of plan…and it might improve things for our young target tonight."

The German rubbed his palms gleefully from hearing the delight in the American's voice, "Ooh! Spill, Crawford. I wanna hear it." His face became mischievous and ready to hear the big news. 

"It looks like I'll be joining you in your little 'fun', Schuldig," Crawford said. Finally! Oracle was going to join Mastermind in his game. Seeing the Schwarz leader smiling like that meant only one thing. The vision was going to help them find their prey.

TBC.

More to come (duh).


	4. ch 4

Schwarz Blitz 4

Disclaimer: I praise Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiß. Why would I want to steal such awesome property? I can't, can I? And it applies to Naoko-san too.

****

Makoto slumped onto her bed, allowing her body to flop helplessly into the thickness of her bed mattress. Good thing it was a double bed. It wouldn't break as easily as a single bed. Her day was definitely full of enjoyment all right. Aki hadn't been any different over the last month in Makoto's employment. She was always the same as ever every five hours of each weekday, shouting in her PMS styled voice at the four unlucky waitresses who had no choice in sticking to this job. Without the money, how could they survive? That was the main question they kept asking themselves whenever they had the urge to say 'I quit' to their boss.

The number of job vacancies was less than usual. Makoto thought she could find a nice job in Osaka. But no, she couldn't, could she? She got a cooking job yes but never did she expect the job to involve a horrible supervisor. Well that was probably what you get when you don't have experience in working. After all this was Mako's first real job. It was a full time post (with honestly shit pay for a month). She mumbled to herself on the bed, praying that something would help her here. She was far away from home and none of her friends were around.

The only buddies she had were Jun, Mei and Yuka. She hardly knew much about them…though knew it was about time she ought to be more than just a colleague at work. Maybe she needed people to talk to. It would be simpler for Makoto because the others could relate to her hatred towards Aki. Unlike Makoto, they were normal girls. Girlie girls who gossiped and whined like all females do in their lives. They had no idea she had weapons that lay beneath her hands. They would be afraid of her. She could provoke them without doing any physical harm to them.

The only time she'd be saving those weapons of hers would be against any bastards who dared mess with her. Fighting was likely to be one of the only ever exciting moments in Makoto's days. And surprisingly she didn't mind handling it all the time. There were rare moments when she enjoyed it like mad. During those 'rare' moments she would feel like a streetfighter who had criminal records of violence and unacceptable behaviour. She had approximately six hours or so to meet Schuldig in a fairer fight. 

She had to get herself trained and pumped with plenty of adrenaline. It was a way of preparing yourself before a sparring session. All professional martial artists did that. The phone rang noisily to make her push off the bed in an awakened state. She jumped over the low coffee table and reached over to the couch to grab hold of the cordless phone. Half her mind suspected it would be that annoying German who wanted to make her more pissed off before tonight. The other half of her innocent head argued back and stated clearly that it wouldn't be him. And the latter triumphed. 

It was someone who sounded nothing like Schuldig. It was just Yuka; thank goodness. Why was her voice in a very cheery level? She kept babbling on and on, which made it difficult for Makoto to pick up every single word perfectly. So far Makoto could only pick out 'you', 'party' and it wasn't too hard to work out what Yuka was asking her. Duh, didn't it sound obvious? Yuka wanted Makoto to come to her party, disco, dinner or whatever the hell it was. Oh wait. Yuka did say she was going to have a birthday party tonight. Oh no. Why tonight?

"What time do you want me to come?" Makoto queried.

Yuka groaned, "Geez, have you lost your memory? Oh never mind. OK for the third time I said seven o'clock. At my place. You do remember where my apartment is, don't you?"

"Uh yeah," Makoto stammered, just about hearing the final confirmation on where the party was going to be. 

"Man, you sound bad. What's wrong?" Yuka's voice started to sound softer than a minute ago. Wow what a relief that she wasn't moody for long. Makoto wasn't going to mention anything about Schuldig. Somehow Yuka and the other two girls weren't quite the people to talk to about fighting. 

"Tired from work of course," She replied. Dammit she had to tell her friend she wasn't able to come. She had to get ready for her little fight against Schuldig. That was more important than a friend's birthday party, wasn't it?

"Well I'm sure we all tired from Aki." Yuka said. "Uh come on we should forget about her for one night and celebrate my twentieth birthday. I want fun for once!" 

"I understand your point completely, Yuka but um…" Makoto paused.

"Are you sure you're okay? If you don't wanna come, you know I'm not offended," Yuka insisted. Oh shit, don't get angry with me Makoto slapped herself for saying such a thing. She made her voice sound uninterested in a friend's celebration. She ought to be there to support someone she knew. OK so it wasn't Usagi, Ami, Rei or Minako on the phone here but Yuka was still a friend anyhow. Maybe Schuldig wanted to fight her at a very late time. The idiot didn't give her an exact time and Makoto could only guess when he would be in the alleys. Perhaps she could stay for two hours to make Yuka happy then get down to business. 

"Yuka, I'll be at your birthday party," Makoto responded confidently to make Yuka squeal happily. "We don't have to wear anything fancy, do we?"

"Nothing slutty, ok?" Yuka giggled, realising she sounded like a manageress giving a list on the ideal wear in an office environment. "See you tonight." She placed her phone set back on her end and Makoto pressed the end call button. Two hours of eating a bit and having fizzy drinks shouldn't be too bad. Just two hours from seven o'clock till nine. Then it would be her leaving time. Yeah…that sounded like an appropriate schedule. Now Makoto had to sort out her clothes. Nothing slutty Yuka said. That shouldn't be too hard. 

She fished out a pair of leather trousers and a sleeveless black shirt. That was simple and casual and likely to impress Yuka's dress code. If she did any decent techniques she would impress her opponent too. So that would make two people she knew smile in one night. Whatever! Just go to the party, enjoy yourself then uh enjoy yourself again soon after. The violent way of course She told herself. At least she got herself laughing. 

****

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Yuka had two glasses of icy lemonade in her hands as she woke her sleepy friend up. Makoto had been in a long five-minute rest on the kitchen table. She couldn't believe it. How did she get to sleep so easily in this noise? Ok well the noise wasn't as bad as being in a disco but the loud chattering was still a bother. She didn't mean to fall asleep so soon. Was she bored already? Or was she too tired from thinking about other stuff? 

The living room had more than twenty people squeezing in all corners of the apartment. Most of the faces were unknown and Makoto guessed they were Yuka's friends from another place and not work. Mei and Jun waved to her from the kitchen, gesturing her to come over. Yuka had disappeared to the group of people sitting on the couch. 

For an apartment the insides were unbelievably large. Bigger than Makoto's home. Not many would approve of apartments as being their accommodation. The fussy rich kinds of people would insist on having big detached houses with a big garden and large rooms on the ground and top floors. But Yuka's house was one heck of an exception. It may look small on the outside but once you stepped into the apartment itself you'd be blown away by the wonderfully decorated wallpapers and long-lasting furniture. It looked like a first class hotel.

Makoto had only been to Yuka's home once and that was on her first day at work in the café. Along with the other two she struck an immediate friendship with these waitresses and they rarely argued or had fights. They all shared one common foe and that was Aki. How they could get her back was something that needed to take time. But as Yuka bravely said she wanted to forget about work and be amused at her birthday party. Who gave a shit that Aki wasn't invited? Nobody did of course.

"Is everyone here a friend of Yuka's?" Makoto asked, looking at the entire population of unknown people spreading across the living room floor and occupying the limited space of air by the windows. She could have sworn she saw a recognisable orange haired person by the window, talking to two women. Surely that wasn't Schuldig. He had started to get into her head so much in such little time in knowing him. Maybe it was her imagination and that she was still sleepy. What the hell? She wasn't sleepy. It had to be him standing there. 

Who else had that sort of hairstyle? Only punks did. His face met her gaze and the instant he smiled at her with wickedness Makoto didn't have to guess one more time to know it was really Schuldig. The two women didn't seem to notice he was looking at somebody else. They thought his flirting was doing them enough good and snuggled into his arms. What a loser! Makoto gritted her teeth. 

"Some of the guests here live in the same block as her or are former college buddies," Jun replied. 

"Yuka is the birthday girl after all. She invites who she wants," Swirling her head from the sound of Jun's voice, Makoto forcefully laughed then reached to the straw basket filled with crisps and chocolate biscuits Bastard. Since when was HE invited?. After grabbing some snacks, she turned back to see him again. But his outrageous looks weren't there anymore. He had disappeared from the window and the two women were still there, chatting to each other as if nothing was wrong. Where did he go? He still had to be here in this room. He couldn't just disappear magically.

"Here." A welcoming hand zoomed in front of Makoto's face suddenly. Red wine swam opposite stunned green eyes. Makoto looked behind the thin glass to stare at that annoying face. "Come on, just a little taste won't do you any harm."

"What the hell are you doing here, Schuldig? I thought we were meeting later on," Makoto said angrily and pushed the glass of wine away from her porcelain face. The German laughed ridiculously and drank his wine in one sip.

"I followed you," Schuldig whispered in her ear. "I'm gonna have some fun up here before you and I hit it off down the street. Don't even think about stopping me, otherwise…I'll end up hurting the birthday girl."

Gulping, Makoto saw Yuka drink some beer with her friends on the couch, wishing to warn her friend that this guy was a maniac. She knew he was gone from where he was standing. This guy was faster in not only jumping but also in disappearing. He could earn a lot from magic shows. Makoto knew she had to get out of here to drive Schuldig out of the apartment right now. From seeing him, she could tell he would be a threat to these people. Another problem came in trying to shove past anyone dancing in front of her and not letting her through to speak to Yuka. Yeah right as if these neighbours were nice. They had no manners. Either that or they were in a deep trance from drinking. 

The clock on the wall chimed at nine o'clock. Was it that late already? Wow during the moment she dozed off time had breezed by her swiftly. Makoto rethought about the man she was going to pummel for the second time tonight, hoping she would pick up the victory. She kindly said 'excuse me' through the crowd of men blocking her path as she forced her way through to get to Yuka. Dammit why did she have to invite so many people? Why didn't she invite the whole country to her party then?

Makoto knew she was close to Yuka. She could hear her laughing with her friends. She squeezed her slim body in-between two men who happened to be taller than her. After managing a tough push past these two dancers she sighed out loud and marched over to Yuka's sofa. Makoto didn't realise that she accidentally bumped into another male guest and knocked his drink onto his blue cotton shirt. 

"Oh sorry." She turned around and passed him a tissue. "Here." 

"Don't worry. It's only water. It will dry up easily," the man said nicely. Charming guy. Ooh gotta go! Bowing apologetically she returned to her mission on telling Yuka that her stay here was up. When she finally got the chance to speak to her, Yuka whined at first and insisted that the party wasn't over yet until midnight. Makoto fought to think up a good excuse to cover her real reason though luckily referred to her previous dozing moment in the kitchen, showing that she was indeed tired from working.

"Yeah I guess you've got a point," Yuka suggested. Makoto said bye to everyone then dashed out of the apartment, her feet rattling down the stairs. Mei and Jun watched in surprise at their friend who had just left. 

"I bet Makoto thought the guy she bumped into just now was a Bishounen. She's making an excuse to hide her shyness," Mei giggled.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Jun agreed. "There are lots of guys here. Shame Makoto couldn't join us in the hunt for single men." They both girlishly laughed together. Nobody could hear them because of the high volume from the hi-fi. 

****

Makoto rolled her jacket sleeves up when she approached the same alley as yesterday. She knew Schuldig would be here any second. The fighter in her could sense another presence close by. It was like two predators hunting each other to see who was the dominant one in the territory. The same sound of footsteps hiding in the shadows alerted her ears as she strolled around the alleyway. 

"Hey, German, get out here!" She said loudly, knowing she wasn't the only one here in the dark street tonight. "I want a piece of you NOW." 

A quiet laugh came from behind her. That was him all right. Or wasn't it? The laugh sounded deeper than Schuldig. Usually the German would laugh a little insanely and not in a low voice. Who could that be? 

"Schuldig, is that you? I'm tired of waiting. Let's get this over with!" Makoto started to lose her patience. The German idiot better show himself. Yes, show his attractive features. That would be nice. Whoa Mako-chan look at what you're saying. She didn't expect her hormonal side to brush to surface and think this guy was hot. She shouldn't be thinking of such a thing. This guy was pissing her off and she didn't want that to continue anymore. She wanted a normal life (with the occasional easy come easy go street fights against stupid robbers).

"Schuldig was right about you," A new voice came to the night. Makoto went into a small front stance as she braced herself in front of this new person standing before her underneath the lamppost. What was it with these people? They loved to make a flashy entrance, didn't they? "You have a strong desire to fight."

Makoto gasped. It was him. Not him as in Schuldig but as in 'spilling water on his shirt' him. It was the same guy. Holy shit. This had come as a complete surprise to Makoto. Was he a friend of the German? This wasn't good. She thought he was a normal graduate from college who came to visit his old friend Yuka. Yuka did graduate last year and told Makoto she had lots of college friends on the campus during her three years of studying. The guy looked older than Makoto. The fringe of his shiny black hair glided smoothly with his face as he approached the girl slowly. Evil-looking eyes piercing through the plastic lens of his glasses.

Makoto failed to notice earlier that he was wearing an expensive looking suit. Its bright cream colours reflected magnificently in the night. He looked like a businessman. But what would a businessman be doing at a birthday party. Makoto's eyes grew worriedly. A possible reason to his presence tonight was to find her, wasn't it? Did Schuldig know about the party? Was he friends with Yuka? But how could Yuka be friends with two strangers? 

"You're not friends with Yuka, are you?" She questioned curiously. 

"Schuldig and I have no connection to the host of the party," He replied, moving in so that he was just an inch from her. Man, he was TALL. Maybe taller than Schuldig. "I had a vision that you would come to this place tonight."

"Oh geez…don't tell me you're one of those weird people with powers. OK, ok that sounds way too sci-fi," Makoto stopped herself. To be honest she was wondering whether he meant the truth or not. After all what else could be spookier? Schuldig had spoken through her mind without any words exchanged from his mouth. This guy claimed he had a vision of her coming to Yuka's apartment. A man who could see into the future, huh? Makoto didn't know what to think. "Where the hell is your German buddy?"

"Right here where you wanted me, Fraulein." Schuldig appeared alongside his friend. These two looked like partners in crime, or more like gangsters. They wanted a piece of her and vice versa. "Hmm…Makoto you look lovelier in the night. Every aspect of you shines out."

"Whatever!" She moaned, not wishing to hear more compliments on her looks. Talking crap was one distraction fighters had to deal with. 

Schuldig smirked with the tall black haired man and said to him, "Crawford, here's a chance for you to see why I think she is fun. How about it?" 

Crawford pushed his glasses up on his nose and cracked his fists together. "Hmm…why not?" 

Was this guy in the awesome cream suit a fighter? Surely he wouldn't want to ruin his suit. It sort of suited his slim body. Makoto could imagine secretaries drooling over their high heels whenever he passed their desks. He would make one handsome tycoon with a lot of money. He looked like a man who dealt with businesses. 

"Schuldig has told me a lot about you, Makoto," Crawford's eyebrows arched downwards sharply. "Show me your power." 

"You got it, Crawford!" Desperately, Makoto banged her fists against each other and ran towards the American. Little did she know that she was going to be in one long and tiring fight tonight; especially against two former Schwarz members. They were going to be tough opponents.

TBC.

I'm bad for leaving it there I know. But hey…I'm a Schwarz lover, they're meant to be bad anyway and I'm part of their group now :P Ok, ok j.j 


	5. ch 5

Schwarz Blitz 5

Disclaimer: Nothing is my property.

****

Courtesy of Crawford's previous beckoning, she came with a right hook to the face, awaiting her bare knuckles to collide roughly with the facial flesh that would ripple unevenly from the blow. This fight was going to be quick and easy. That was what Makoto wanted. Quick victories were positive things. You had more freedom to do as you pleased afterwards. She wanted to get a good night sleep as soon as this was over. And hopefully these guys wouldn't be bugging her anymore once they realised she was superior to them.

Her right hook punch missed the target and Crawford casually moved his face one inch away from her fist. How about the other side then? Makoto moved a left sided punch towards his head but he dodged it without using much force like she would from that attack. Behind his glasses, Crawford had his eyes closed and a pathetic smile loomed across his lips. Oh no, this guy also had a playful grin like his orange haired buddy. These two both looked totally weird in her view. Maybe they wanted to toy with her for a while because this fight had only started. Well, that was a useful strategy, going easy on your opponent to see what he or she specialised in before going in for the real dramatic attack – just as long as you didn't overdo it too often.

You could easily become a lazy person and think too highly of yourself that you would win. Makoto refused to let her pride or developing arrogance get in the way of her as she continued to throw more punches at Crawford. Each one was close to its target but the defence was well set-up and Crawford was able to block each punch perfectly with his arms; no matter how fast they were coming in. Why wouldn't he open his eyes? Did he have a second pair of eyes hiding from the public eye? 

Or was it that he was just smart enough to know where each strike was coming? Makoto feared it was the latter. Only the stronger fighters would do a thing like that. She rarely closed her eyes in combat and only did so if her opponent was stupid and a non-martial artist; namely the druggies in this town and the brainless robbers that stalked weaker women. Makoto began to lunge in with three roundhouse kicks from the top to bottom level. Damn this bastard didn't seem to get any hit from either move. 

Not only was his defence good but also his evade. Makoto sometimes had to use a lot of force to kick her evade ability in whilst this guy merely dodged his body by less than an inch. It was as though he was a super flexible person with bendy muscles. She threw a side thrust kick to his hip but realised it was pushed away by one swift of his hand. This is going to take a while, isn't it? Makoto thought, stepping back to rest her unclenching hands. This guy was brainier than she thought. His upper body blocks created quite a mighty impact whenever she punched or elbow struck him. It gave her a bit of brief pain in her knuckles. 

Crawford straightened his blazer and opened his eyes, "I'm sure you can do better than that." What the hell? She was giving him the best of her abilities. What seemed to be wrong with her techniques? She knew they were all correctly done; so what was the problem? Crawford had been the defensive so far. Perhaps he wanted to wait until she became tired from throwing too many attacks in one go then it would be a chance for him to strike her with his special moves. Sneaky bastard you are indeed, Crawford or whatever the hell his name was. 

Makoto had a hunch he was toying with her for now. Her hands gestured to him, "Look I want a real fight. Let's get going, Crawford." Oh she's craving for it all right Schuldig noticed promptly while he stood by the corner and watched his leader and the girl fight. Crawford had been very calm and patient throughout the last five minutes whilst Makoto, on the other hand, was already losing her cool. Mastermind was able to read more of her thoughts and had enjoyed understanding each one of them more carefully. 

These feelings she had were filled with aggressive desires or passions to get revenge on someone. Schuldig could tell she was pissed off with a person at work. Someone called Aki. She and the other employees shared the same hatred towards her. He travelled further into her mind to see what else she was hiding from him and Oracle. 

Crawford snorted arrogantly at Makoto's calling. She wanted him to come. It was his chance. 

/She's got something up her sleeve, Crawford/ Schuldig interrupted /another skill/. The American turned to his friend, his irises glimmered with sneakiness and amusement.

/What is the other skill?/ The American asked.

Mastermind laughed /We'll have to play with her more/. 

What were they thinking? Makoto wondered. Was Crawford trying to devise a plan to attack her swiftly? Keep your guard up She thought cautiously. 

/Ha, she just told herself to be defensive/ Schuldig told Crawford, giggling in the dark.

Makoto growled silently. Hearing the other guy laugh must mean that they were definitely up to something. If only she knew what they were discussing. Oh shit. If Schuldig could read minds then that would mean he and Crawford were talking telepathically. What a bunch of cheaters. They could devise a trap for her to make her lose. How unfair! Well she had to make the next move, didn't she? Makoto decided to break the discussion up and moved in as the attacker again. A punch to Crawford's abdomen caused him to collapse slightly. The idiot shouldn't have paid too much attention to his friend's advice. 

Crawford still smiled. That punch didn't mean anything to him, did it? No pain at all. He rubbed his shirt and stood erectly again. 

"Not bad," He said. "Caught me off guard." Then a roundhouse elbow to the cheek struck him precisely. His glasses moved into an unequal angle from the strike. Now that had to effective. He took longer to recover from this. Makoto seemed to have gotten a hit on him. She had to admit this guy was good in the defence side. Just like Schuldig. Surely he let himself get his by purpose. Did they want to make this game more fun for the two of them? Makoto didn't give a damn what their reason for this fight was. She wanted to win quickly and get them out of Osaka. 

The attacking resumed. And Makoto just about blocked herself from a close punch to the nose. Her right arm was in an upper rising block and underneath the technique she could see Crawford smile at her impressively. He was having a good time. 

"Very good. Guess I'm not the only one defending here," Oracle pushed his arm further down against Makoto's right-handed block. His other arm came into a punch. 

Instead of blocking this punch, Makoto grabbed the incoming arm and pulled it underneath her armpit tightly. Looking closely into his dark eyes, she said slowly, "You're not bad yourself…but I'm gonna win this." Her teeth gritted together determinedly as she spoke. It was her way of saying 'Don't mess with me or this is what you get.'

"Not quite," Schuldig replied coolly. Makoto looked behind Crawford to pinpoint where the German was. But the alternative direction to where he was came too late for her to find and Schuldig punched her left cheek hard, making her release Crawford's arm. It was going to happen anytime, wasn't it? The German was going to come in and help his friend to make this a handicap fight. Makoto didn't expect him to barge in this soon though. Like she had time to complain about that.

"Bastard!" She did a jumping roundhouse kick to miss another punch from Schuldig. Her kick successfully hit his face to push him backwards as a counter. Wow she got a hit. 

"I'll show you what I can do for real." Approaching her back, Crawford punched Makoto numerously across the cheeks. She didn't have the time to say 'ow' at any minute and found her body meeting the wall painfully. Dammit she could have easily become a cripple from her back being hit in this way. Whoa he did know how to punch remarkably strong. He must be a professional boxer. Those sportsmen concentrated solely on their fists rather than both punches and kicks. Makoto's aching cheeks were practically crushed inside and she could taste tiny droplets of blood on her tongue.

Idiot! Makoto accused herself harshly. Never mind she then thought, stood up steadily and spat the blood out to the ground by Crawford's leather loafers. He suddenly grabbed her jacket collars into one heap and looked her in the eyes like she did to him. He threw her to the other side in one giant motion. Ouch her back got another hit. 

Another close moment to being crippled. Luck was scaring her way too much tonight. 

"I have to say you are brave," Crawford complimented, bending over to look at her. His finger glided over her left hand and displayed red liquid on the surface. Shit she didn't feel herself bleeding. She must have cut her hands when she got thrown a minute ago. Makoto raised her left hand in front of her face. The blood dripped down slowly to the ground as she shockingly observed her latest cut. "You sure can take the pain, can't you?"

"She's a special fighter," Schuldig added then cocked his head to the side cheekily as he looked down at Makoto. "Aren't you, Fraulein?" Makoto pushed her back against the wall to heave her body up properly. What did he mean by special? Did he know more about her? She could sense a nasty headache forming in her cranium and the blood on her hands felt wet while they travelled down to the ground. Schuldig's face zoomed in from out of the blue. Makoto watched his eyes move up and down on her facial features very adjacently. She released a short pant when she felt his hand gently pinch her cheek. 

"Oh aren't you a lovely girl," He whispered. Did he realize he was pinching a painful injury? He caught her right arm coming at her and slammed it back down to the side.

"Bruises don't go with your beautiful face, Makoto. You agree with me, don't you?"

"Don't touch me, Schuldig!" She fought back and pushed his hand away from her. Her feet nearly toppled when she moved to the pavement again. Her right hand roughly rubbed away the leaking blood on her left hand. Oh shit this isn't good She thought simply. 

"My thoughts exactly," Mastermind replied. Her shoulders cringed. When the hell would he stop doing that, reading her mind without her noticing? Makoto had to do something fast. She had to be sure to pick up the victory. The first part of the hour had gone to Crawford and Schuldig's side and now she had to regain her status to be the stronger one here. Makoto breathed in deeply to focus her inside relaxation. It had been a while since she had gone against a strong fighter. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists to the sides.

/What is she doing?/ Crawford queried.

/It has to be her other skill/ Schuldig guessed. The Japanese girl growled and jumped into the air. The sound of sparkling could be heard. Crawford and Schuldig looked up to the sky and a shimmer of electricity that was as bright as the lampposts standing near them came into display. 

"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" Makoto yelled. A flying electrical shape flew towards Schuldig and Crawford at fast speed. 

"What the…?" Crawford said then dodged out of the way in time with his German ally. The electrical cylinder exploded into the wall and emitted the same bright light as before. Makoto landed back on the ground, moving into a front stance immediately. How was she capable of using electricity like that? Was that her secret power? 

"Nice move," Schuldig commented. "Where did you learn it?" Electricity came into Makoto's hands brightly as she stood still. Her eyes didn't move at all. There was electricity in her eyes as well as her hands. Talk about power.

"It came from an accident," She merely said. "Let's just say nature picked on me five years ago and then suddenly thought I was good enough to handle this…gift."

"I see," Crawford came in. "Very impressive."

"Well now that you know one of my top secrets I suggest you back off!" Makoto prepared another attack. They wouldn't listen to her advice and leave. No. They were going to stay here to annoy her more tonight. She started her next move straightaway. Her arms crossed together and the electricity increased in size. Get a load of this! She warned them. "SUPREME…THUNDER!!!!" A long beam of lightning came at Oracle and Mastermind. This girl was certainly worthy of her power. It could be seen in those emerald eyes of hers. 

Dammit she missed them again. Makoto's forehead began to drip in sweat. Why did she use too much of her energy for Supreme Thunder? Or was it the fact she was already tired from earlier in the fight? Damn you Mako-chan. You shouldn't have shown off like that. Now she knew she would be in more trouble. Makoto tried a lightning uppercut towards Schuldig but the German evaded her move and gripped her hand in time to twist her arm behind her back. Crawford approached Makoto casually to stare at her tired face. 

"You are weak," He said. Fuck you She cursed angrily. 

Schuldig laughed and nuzzled her neck /Ooh bad language, Fraulein/. Automatically she growled at him. From the side of her neck, the German heard her heartbeat quicken immensely. She couldn't hide anything from him when his telepathy was in play. He could read her thoughts and find out her feelings. Crawford pulled out a gun from his inside blazer pocket and pointed it towards Makoto's chest. 

A sadistic grin surfaced and Makoto watched him pull the trigger back slowly. She couldn't stop the guilty thoughts screaming in her head. Statements such as 'If only I had done this move rather than that move' repeatedly attacked her brain. She scrunched her eyes shut to brace for impact from the bullet and the sound of a gunshot. Where was the gunshot sound then? Her ears were ready to hear them. 

But instead a simple click from the gun was all that came out. No bullets flew into her heart. This meant one obvious thing - the gun was not loaded from the start. What a sick joke! She could have died though neither Crawford nor Schuldig chose to do so. 

Crawford had a thoughtful look around his thin face and placed the gun back into his pocket, "Hmm…maybe I'll let you live after all."

"Huh?" Makoto stupidly responded. Schuldig let her arm free from his familiar grip and turned to the stunned Japanese girl. She was so lovely. He knew he could never take her eyes off her in battle. 

"Didn't you hear him, Fraulein? He's letting you live." Schuldig smiled warmly (which was a little different to his evil grins that Makoto had grown used to these last hours) and played with her ponytail before swirling on his heel to leave the fight scene. Who did these guys think they are? What was the meaning of this little charade?

"Hold it!" Makoto stopped them. The two strangers halted. "I want to know why you let me live." 

Crawford chortled and said, "For once I can see where Schuldig gets his amusement from." 

"Ah, Vielen Dank, mein Freund," Schuldig said proudly. These two Bishounen were as crazy as Makoto. They got fun from fighting and victimising. Just like she did at times – only when she was winning though. Maybe they wanted to kill her but not at this time. Probably later on after they play more games with her. Oh man, I'm losing it. This is killing me Makoto thought as she watched them disappear in the darkness. She wanted to make them stay to officially finish this fight off; to produce a winner. Somehow she wasn't able to. They thought she was fun to mess around.

Shaking her head confusingly, she headed her way back home five minutes later. What she had to cope with tomorrow was another shitty day at work. Oh how she wished she had more fun. Damn she sounded like Schuldig and Crawford now. Did she have fun fighting them? Well…she had to confess. They were challenging enough for her skill and she knew she was going to see them anytime soon. Looks like this so-called fight would certainly last for a long time. 

****

/Thanks for letting her stay alive/ Schuldig said.

/She is a worthy adversary. If Schwarz banded together I'm sure she'll be useful/ Crawford answered.

/Well like you said, she is for my amusement/ The German winked then turned around to look at her. This latest prey he was playing with really gave him high sensations of enjoyment. He wasn't going to leave her alone at all at this rate, was he? Now he knew much more about her abilities. 

What he also knew was that how she got her powers was indeed a blatant lie. It was too rare to get electrical power from a mere thunder shock. He knew there was another reason for how she was able to control her skill. It would take more than five years to get control of such an element. I'll see you later…Bishoujo Schuldig thought happily, laughing inside his head. Thank goodness Crawford couldn't hear him. He'd think Mastermind was mad. 

TBC.

Whoa this took me forever to write up. I'm not a professional martial arts choreographer you know. However I do like martial arts movies hence the heavy action in most of my fics :P I have a hunch there'll be more chapters than I mentioned at the beginning. I know the bit where Makoto attacked (without transforming) is confusing and I'll be writing more of this. I just need time. Don't forget this is an AU - anything happens. 


	6. ch 6

Schwarz Blitz 6

Disclaimer: Same rules as usual.

AN: Thanks to the usual people who reviewed.  

****

Makoto couldn't stand the non-stop pain on her cheeks.  Since this morning she had been cursing quietly in the kitchen every minute whenever an aching sensation went into action.  Even her jaws hurt like hell.  The sound of her complaining wasn't exactly competitive with Aki's usual bossiness during the working hours.  Jun, Mei and Yuka weren't able to work out what Makoto kept mumbling though 'shit' was one of the main words they could pick out underneath her breath.  The word 'kill' cropped up at times in the kitchen and it certainly worried the waitresses listening to the brunette to say a dangerous word.  They wondered whether Makoto was going to commit a murder or beat someone up.

Makoto violently shook the oil from the fresh chips in the sieve and banged them into the readily laid out plates.  There she went, mumbling again.  Mei and Jun exchanged puzzled glances then discussed between each other about last night.  It wouldn't have anything to do with the guy she met last night, would it? 

"What's this about a guy?" Yuka's ears poked out.  Mei told her about Makoto running away hurriedly last night.  "No way.  Is that what she's pissed off about? Man, that girl is sensitive."

"Hey, we shouldn't really discuss this when Makoto is nearby," Jun referred to the moody girl cooking further away from the three girls.  She didn't seem to hear them whisper as she banged her kitchen utensils all over the sink.  Aki unfortunately came in and saw the angry face that surrounded Makoto.  Jun, Mei and Yuka ungrouped from their little circle to get back to their duties.  They didn't want to be in trouble with their boss and their pissed off colleague in one day.  It would be awful.

"Ah, damn you, Crawford," Makoto uttered under her hoarse voice. "And damn you, Schuldig.  You bastards think you can be tougher than me! I'll show you…"

"Is there a problem?" Aki icily asked, interrupting Makoto in an angry outburst.  Great just what she needed to make her afternoon worse.  Have a bitch to cuss you on your problems.  Oh how fun it made your day.  Makoto zipped her lips shut and shook her head calmly at her manageress. "Whatever is on your mind, take it outside.  Not in my kitchen." Aki walked away briskly.  

You're the one who's always miserable! Behind Aki's back Makoto gestured 'Up yours' to her, knowing she wasn't able to see what the chef just did.  Oh how she desired to punch the older woman.  Damn why did an aftermath of a fight have to be so rotten? Last night was a painful yet challenging situation.  Makoto hadn't fought this hard all her life.  And what made it more amusing to Crawford and Schuldig was that she had demonstrated her other power to them.  Hopefully that would make them more hesitant to fight her now, would it?

Then again, knowing these two men, they wanted to enjoy their moments with her.  She knew they wanted to wind her up constantly and getting rid of them was going to be a very difficult task to pull off.  Maybe it would take the rest of her free time just to take them out of Osaka.  The pain of encountering a deadly punch to the face still wouldn't leave her.  Feeling the ache on her facial flesh brought back flashbacks on her latest opponents.  They were real bastards, weren't they? 

She didn't know how they could have fun with her.  What was so special about her? Well now that she had shown her electrical power they may never leave her alone in a while.  Makoto could tell they were most impressed with her other ability other than her martial arts.  A little voice kept warning her that these two had the danger sign written all over them.  Of course they were dangerous.  She didn't have to have a teacher to tell her that.  Makoto could smell dangerous people anywhere on the streets.  She could even tell who was going to rob whom in the shopping centres from observing people walking past her.  

Makoto had extra senses that normal people didn't have.  After all she was a fighter who could control electricity.  Not many fighters had that in their blood, did they?

"Mako-chan, table 21 needs their order," Yuka called from the door.  Nodding from the far end of the kitchen, Makoto took the plate filled with fries and a chicken burger and went into the main café, approaching the table that had 21 written on a tiny stand on the edge.  

"Your order is ready," Makoto interfered the woman's deep reading.  She placed her newspaper down and smiled before dragging the plate over to her side.  Makoto's stomach growled suddenly after staring at the lovely fast food.  It had occurred to her that she didn't have a heavy breakfast this morning, which merely involved an apple and orange juice rather than her usual toast with butter. Hunger surfaced automatically as she stood in the middle of the café and watched Mei and Jun breeze up and down to serve the customers their food.  

"Makoto, are you okay?" Yuka popped up from behind. "I mean we were going to ask you that this morning but we didn't want to piss you off from your moody trance." Makoto's mind awakened in reality.  How could she forget? She was too mad to talk to anyone politely when she came in this morning though her moodiness had quietened down when she got to work in the kitchen.  Bowing her head regretfully, she said, "I didn't mean to worry you with my foul mood.  I didn't eat a huge breakfast and I'm hungry."

"Oh man!" Yuka didn't hear Mako's last sentence as her eyeballs practically fell out of her face when she saw Aki cheerfully chatting with customers.  Why couldn't she be like that to the waitresses? Surely there couldn't be two sides to her.  Makoto followed her friend's eye direction and could see where the eyeball popping came from.  But for her, the eyeballs falling out reaction was double.  She couldn't believe her afternoon sucked even more.  Aki was talking to two people she had begun to know very well.  Oh how it annoyed her so much.  Why did they have to be here, of all places? Yuka growled disgracefully as she whispered, "I should find her father's phone number and complain to him.  Her behaviour as the manageress is unacceptable."

"I know," Makoto replied, not taking her eyes off the three people she hated. "Go into the office and find her father's number.  I'll keep an eye on her here." Yuka left the main café straightaway to return to the back door.  Makoto would have preferred to stay out here anyway. Not just to serve the customers but to keep an eye on those two men who had the balls to show their faces at her work place.  Crawford looked so relaxed in his seat and Schuldig looked as though he was trying to make a pass at Aki.  For goodness sake she wasn't exactly attractive (though could be considered as a slut without a doubt).  Schuldig would probably have a one-night stand with the woman then treat her like dirt the next day.  Now that was something Makoto would have loved to see in the cinema. 

It wasn't meant to be part of jealousy.  This feeling merely came from bitter pride and an act of revenge.  She wanted to get Aki since day one but hadn't had the heart to attack her for real.  Knowing a bitch like her she would most likely spread rumours about her fighting ability.  Everyone believed Aki's words so Makoto had to be careful with her aggressive actions.  Yuka had to have enough time to creep into Aki's office and find the contacts their manageress had hidden in her address book.  

Why can't those two leave me alone for a change? I want to recuperate.  Why can't they wait until tonight? I'll be ready then Makoto thought annoyingly.  She wanted to get them back yes but not right now.  Not when she was hungry and tired from her job.  If only she could get to them now.  Unfortunately Aki was the obstacle here.  How was she going to get that woman out of the way? Those guys were people only Makoto had the right to know and not by anyone else; especially her manageress.  Schuldig looked past Aki (who was busy staring at the handsome black haired man with glasses) and smirked at Makoto.  

Shit, he saw me Makoto moved her eyes away and took back some dirty plates back to the kitchen.  What a good excuse to ignore him.  Her anger returned as soon as she entered the kitchen again.  Her blood boiled from her fingertips to her brain.  She wanted to take those guys out now and give them the same pain they gave her last night.  She decided to shut her stomach's craving for food and made her way out of the stuffy environment, not looking back at Schuldig or Crawford for the second time.  Mei, Yuka and Jun could handle the customer orders.  Makoto was there for the cooking only.  Besides, she needed some fresh air to cool her temper down.  And combining it with a cold bottle of cola was beyond perfect.  Yuka joined her outside.  

"I called her father up," She explained. "He said he'll take action ASAP.  Uh…how about NOW rather than ASAP? Geez some people!"

"I'm sure he'll do something.  After all she is his daughter," Makoto said, gulping her drink down thirstily.  

"He said she's a Daddy's girl.  Man, what kind of crap is she pulling? I'm sure she's the opposite." Yuka snorted sceptically.

Why was Aki like this? Why did she have to be two people? To the customers and her father, she was a true angel and a respected figure whilst in the kitchen she was as vicious as a lioness to the waitresses who worked like hell to get their duties done.  And she didn't do anything except boss around.  Makoto wondered whether the woman had a secret that she wanted to hide from people and thought the four waitresses were easy victims of teasing and took out her secret temper out on them.  She looked back through the window of the café to see Mei and Jun calmly taking orders and serving the food in a prompt fashion.  They were okay so far.

Aki seemed to be talking as happily as ever to Crawford.  Ugh how that made Makoto have an urge to vomit.  She was all over the American.  Makoto hated those kind of woman who bossed people around and also flirted with men.  She was definitely a slut all right.  Schuldig had disappeared right from Makoto's face again.  Why did he do that? How did he do that so fast? Makoto suspected he wanted to play hide and seek with her, which could explain his quick escape from the café.  He was likely to be near her.  So where was he? 

"Mako?" Yuka's voice broke Makoto's thoughts.

"Hmm?" She said as she finished her drink.  

"That guy with orange hair is looking at us." Yuka nodded to her left at the third person standing near them.  Makoto almost choked on her fizzy drink when she said that.  Schuldig leaned by a tall tree; his arms crossed over his chest and his face had a delightful expression. "Wasn't he the customer talking to Aki?"

"Uh-huh," Makoto answered.  "You don't mind doing some of my work, do you? I'm staying out here for a little longer."

"But…"

"Just go, ok? Look I suspect this guy isn't friendly.  I'm gonna tell him to get lost before he starts trouble in any way," Makoto explained.  Yuka was reluctant with leaving her friend behind but seeing the determination on Makoto's face was proof that she would be fine and wouldn't do anything outrageous.  She went into the café to get back to her work.  

Makoto stormed over to Schuldig's relaxed posture, "How dare you come here?"

"What's wrong with coming to visit you, Fraulein?" The German joked.  "Surely there's nothing wrong with seeing Sailor Jupiter." He winked playfully.  Makoto's eyes enlarged in shock.  What did he just say? Damn he knew who she was.  Did it all come as a give-away when she demonstrated her electrical ability? Wait! He could read people's thoughts.  So it wouldn't be a surprise if he could read people's memories too.  Shit he must have already known from the start when he said he knew all her secrets.  He was really toying with her all along, waiting for the right time to come out for her to show the secret power.  

Schuldig leaned over her shoulder, making her jump briefly as he whispered in her ear, "I knew you were special from the start, Makoto." She didn't notice his hand had touched her right hip while he leaned over her. "I could see it from the outside and worked my way inside.  I'm smart, ja?" 

"Get away!" She knocked his hand off her and stepped back slightly.  "I should take you out now.  I don't care about my job or my reputation any more."  She went into a small front stance.

Schuldig laughed, "The fighter in you yearns for some violence.  I enjoy seeing you in that trance, Makoto." Demonstrating his speed, Mastermind breezed past her stunned figure and ended up behind her back.  She didn't have time to follow his direction when he performed this action.  

"I love playing with you, Fraulein.  It makes both our days fun," He murmured softly over her shoulder, stroking the curve of her neck.  Makoto couldn't move her muscles as she felt his eyes move over her.  A sense of anger suddenly exploded and she growled through an unpredicted punch.  Sadly it missed Schuldig by a whole inch and he simply moved out of the way so she ended up punching the air.  "Till later." He grinned in a very attractive way (which haunted Makoto) then walked away as soon as Crawford came out of the café.  I'm gonna take you out of Osaka.  I swear it.  I don't want to be played around with Makoto thought determinedly.  This was the spirit she needed to win.

****            

"Father, one of the waitresses is a pain," Aki said. "I'm certain she's the one people have been worried about.  I wouldn't be surprised if she was violent on the outside."

"I wouldn't be surprised either, Aki.  Reinforcements will come in and help in about two days time," Mr Honda warned. "And don't be too hard on the other three waitresses as well."

"I'll try to be nice, Father.  It's because 'she' is always around." Aki hung up the phone and slammed the set back down.  Damn parents. They were hard to convince, weren't they? Makoto thought Aki was a stupid woman who had no brains at all.  Oh she was wrong all right.  This daughter of a top tycoon had more brains she had imagined.  Aki knew Makoto was a fighter from looking at her.  Who else was that tall and had hands as large as an overweight man's? Makoto was a dangerous figure to be in Osaka.  What they didn't need was a girl who fought guys to the ground and claimed she ruled people.  This town belonged to Aki and her father.  Not Kino Makoto.    

****  

Crawford diverted his eyes away from the screen after reading an email sent by Nagi not long ago.  It seemed Prodigy had given more information on his progress with his investigation.  Nagi and Farfarello are doing well so far Crawford thought.  

"So the vision was true after all." Schuldig came into the room.  "The manageress' father is behind this, isn't he?"

"Makoto is like a pricey bounty," Crawford commented. "They don't want her here because of what she can do."

"Ich weiß.  She *is* skilful." The German giggled then went back to being serious on the work. "So what happens now?"

Crawford swivelled on his chair to stand opposite Schuldig.  His lips parted into an intrigued grin /We keep an eye on Makoto while Nagi and Farfarello continue their undercover work/.  Schuldig pondered on how long it would be till Makoto realised she was a target by other people. Until they managed to find her only then she would find out the truth the reason for Schuldig and Crawford's presence.  She knew they weren't interested in killing her at all and the two Schwarz members had to be sure it stayed that way for now. 

TBC.

Ich weiß = I know.


	7. ch 7

Schwarz Blitz 7

****

Makoto dropped her feet back to the carpet after finishing off her one-hour position of being upside-down in a handstand. The muscles in her fingers had stretched further while on the ground and more obviously her hands started to ache. At first her head was full of pressure and heaviness and it was down to frustration that made her entire skull hard inside and out. Makoto's brain was smart enough to advice her to relax and not think of anything. Plus it was important to concentrate on your balance, especially if you had to close your eyes and keep your head straight for an hour. Having a view upside down did give you a heavy feeling – as though you were in a dangerous roller-coaster ride that went in circles.

Being in a handstand after a stressful day was one of the exercises that Makoto used to make herself feel better mind and body. She had been practising this since the first day of living in Osaka and over the days had grown used to the (sometimes painful) procedure and her balance had improved immensely. From emptying her head during the handstand Makoto felt afresh. It was hard to not stop thinking about your horrible manageress and two men who enjoyed tormenting the hell out of you. 

She pulled her body back against the couch, closing her eyelids and recalling the past events during this week. Her job always involved the same tasks. Cooking, serving customers and being bossed at by Aki. The job was most definitely boring in her eyes. Yuka, Mei and Jun must be thinking the same as her right now. Though like they all agreeably stated, this was the only job they could hold on to until the right time opportunity came to leave, which wouldn't be at any time soon. The job availability was in reality at a low level. The statement about Osaka having lots of job opportunities was absolute bullshit that the media enjoyed printing in public.

Makoto wondered how Juuban was these days. Was it the same as she remembered it as a teenager? Most unlikely. She was certain that old school friends from Juuban High must have moved to another town and started a brand new life that had so many career possibilities. Makoto felt like the only one not in this category. What was she in? How would she describe herself in a CV? Well it wouldn't be too hard to describe a violent girl who had the ability to cook expertly and loved to fight challenging opponents. Suddenly the latter made her think twice. Didn't 'love to fight' sound too arrogant? She had a hunch that she was starting to sound like a certain German person.

Damn, why did Schuldig have to come to see her a lot? He was just like all the bullies she had come up against. Annoying and arrogant. There was Crawford too. Who did he think he was? Was he supposed to be the villain in James Bond, disguised as a businessman with a lot of deadly secrets underneath his sleeve? Makoto knew she hadn't had any male company since moving here. She was in no mood for fun with Bishounen because neither one of the males that approached Makoto were honest enough to her. Most of the men were drunk and had no clue that their Hentai personality was controlling their weak brain. 

Schuldig and Crawford probably wanted slutty women who slept with them then got paid. These two guys looked like they had money to burn. Makoto still didn't know who they were unfortunately. What she did know was that they could fight and that was all she needed. They were her best challengers so far in Osaka. And she couldn't stop remembering the excitement that her fights against them kept emitting in her thoughts. 

It wasn't just excitement. It was also the craving to fight. To feel the bones break and the blood pour down her fingers. She did briefly smack Crawford in the face last time they fought. And shit it felt good even though it was one punch that didn't affect the American by a fair amount. Remembering the last fight against these two strangers made Makoto jump into the air off the couch and her hands automatically went into flying punches.

Schuldig was a fast person to keep up with. Not only was he agile, he was an absolute pain in the butt with his telepathic power. He could be a nosy bastard and take a peek at Makoto's thoughts without her noticing it. Hell he knew she was Sailor Jupiter from the start. He just wanted to play around with her, make her feel awkward on her identity and who she was inside. Dammit what was Schuldig doing to her? Makoto normally didn't have this desirable attitude in fighting. She thought she had retired from the combat world but still those fights kept coming at her when she didn't want them at all. And she wasn't doing a thing to stop the addiction from looming in each night.

Did she have to admit that she really enjoyed fighting and taunting her enemies? This thinking began to give Makoto another headache. Perhaps she needed to go into a balanced handstand again to empty her thoughts. But that suggestion didn't seem like the best plan this time. Makoto couldn't control the ongoing images plaguing her imagination. She may not be psychic like Schuldig or Crawford though she had the feeling her imagination would soon be more powerful than a creative writer's would. Her violent ideas started to be filled with more blood and torturous screams. It was the same people that appeared in her eyes. Aki, Schuldig and Crawford. 

How she wanted to get them back for the damage they had done to her. Makoto knew her current 'goody two shoes' shell in the café would have to be melted soon if Aki decided to piss her off as usual in the kitchen. She didn't give the slightest shit that Aki was the boss. When it came to fighting, Makoto was the one doing the hard work – and usually winning. What is wrong with you? You're going crazy Walking into the bathroom, Makoto observed the redness developing in her hands and her cheeks as she stared into the mirror.

The hot flushes were the result of her aggressive fantasies. Was she becoming a violent person without realising it? Did it have anything to do with Schuldig and Crawford's annoying presence in Osaka? 

"Oh man," Makoto murmured and splashed cold water onto her heated face, "what if my violence goes out of control? I'll…" She didn't want to think anymore on what could happen in the future. Oh god what was happening to her mind and body? Her face buried into her wet palms as she leant over the sink, sighing worriedly.

****

Schuldig was bored with the news this evening. It was the same headline that repeated every four hours. 'Violence increases in busy streets of Osaka' – that was the top story that spread everywhere on the news channels. The German's ruffled orange hair covered most of his lazy face while he lied across the leather material of the settee, his arms hung over the arm of the furniture. Dinner wasn't very special for Mastermind and Oracle. All it consisted of was raw fish and sushi. Crawford sat by the dining room table, indulged in a Japanese novel. Didn't the smartly dressed Schwarz leader have anything better to read? 

Schuldig wasn't exactly as literate as his leader or completely computer crazy like Prodigy was. He didn't know how kids like Nagi and that Weiss kid Omi could stay in front of the screen for over three hours and not move from their seat. Schuldig turned back to the TV where scenes of dry bloodshed filled the screen widely. Tch, maybe Makoto did all the damage He thought humorously. His lips twisted into another grin. Gee he was doing this a lot whenever he thought about the Japanese girl. She sure was…something.

Mastermind could sense the anger boil to its maximum level in Makoto's thoughts, especially when she saw him. That was the kind of woman he liked. Somebody who could fight and stay pretty at the same time. Younger high school girls were fun to read but this particular girl struck him with more interest than teenagers. Her aggression had followed her from an adolescent age and never left her side. She was strong physically. However, was she strong in her mind? Schuldig had been testing her to see how much more she could handle when confronted by his taunts on being a fighter or a special person.

"Crawford, when did you say Mr Honda's men were likely to attack?" The German asked. The American placed his book down to look at his team member. That stern look behind those glasses meant he was in a serious mood to discuss important stuff. 

"In two days time, I believe," Crawford replied, referring to his last visions. Nodding understandably, Schuldig slumped deeper down on the couch The young Fraulein is going to be in for surprises. That Aki does have something in mind for her. Poor girl. Shit why did he have to think sympathetically all of a sudden? Perhaps it was because he didn't want anyone else picking on her except him. It was a way of saying he and Crawford had the rights to pick on Kino Makoto and no other person. Not even that bitchy manageress Honda Aki. 

"You like her a lot, don't you?" Crawford said with his head looking at the pages of his book. "You keep thinking about her." Schuldig threw his body forward and sat up erectly on the couch. Crawford knew he was right from observing the delightful grins the German wouldn't stop showing. Of course it was true. He kept repeating the memories from Makoto's brain. They were too irresistible to leave behind. It felt nice to feel her aggression and watch it in his own eyes. 

"So what if I do?" Schuldig said. 

"Be careful. You wouldn't want your thoughts to be mixed too much with the sweet taste of her mind."

"Don't worry, Crawford. I'm in control of how I feel about her…" Using his agility, he swiftly moved from the couch to slide by his leader's chair in less than a minute. "But are you?" The black haired man looked at him suspiciously. His eyebrows moved downwards. Uh oh it was a sign to say he was angry now. 

"What do you mean by that?" He questioned innocently. 

Schuldig patted Oracle's shoulder, laughing. He leant over to his ear to whisper, "Looks like I'm not the only one who admires her." Crawford rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You just said 'as if.' Ha-ha. You're denying the truth."

"Don't start playing with me." The American closed his book loudly and stood on his feet to leave the table. Schuldig wouldn't let him budge past. Knowing the German wasn't impressed, Crawford gave in to his urge for the truth. "OK I admit, she is attractive. But I don't think highly as dirty as you do nor see her as my source of amusement."

"I knew you liked her the minute you fought her, Crawford," Schuldig yelled after his leader as he walked into his bedroom. He snorted entertainingly when he was alone in the room. The TV was still left on at a loud volume though he didn't seem to care right now. Although Crawford was his leader, Schuldig wasn't exactly willing to share his fun with him this time. He caught his prey first and therefore Makoto was rightfully his entertainment. Besides, Crawford rarely ever liked Schuldig and his fun games. He was too busy with planning their assaults on their latest cases. Perhaps Crawford was worried that Makoto would be too intimidated by Schuldig's brainteasers, which would explain his small attraction to her. 

If that's how he feels then he should just leave me alone so I can do as I please with her Schuldig thought decidedly I can have fun when I want to, right?. He didn't mean to sound babyish. It was just that he hadn't been amused by anyone in a while. And he was currently enjoying himself with Makoto. He sat back on the couch to think back through Makoto's memories. All those violent thoughts flooded into him and already Schuldig was in the happy zone once again. 

Apart from feeling her aggressive behaviour and imagining it through his eyes, he was able to sense her physical presence. Her soft brunette strands flew across her face as though in a rhythmic trance. Her green eyes looked at him with a mixture of anger as well as desire for a decent fight. Somehow Schuldig was certain that her desire also had an urge to feel close passion from the opposite gender as well as violence. This was another taunt he could throw at her later on if he wanted to see her again. He loved seeing her flush in embarrassment. 

He could definitely see why he liked her a lot. It was the same with other men too though they ended up getting broken bones because their approach to her was not satisfactory. Or they gave her the wrong impression. Schuldig knew Crawford was asleep and tiptoed out of the apartment. I want to see you again, meine Fraulein. You always make me feel good He thought, sniggering charmingly. 

****

Aki sat next to her father in the conference room patiently. The four other guests who had attended this meeting listened to Mr Honda speak in a very political tone, waving his hands in the air to gesture his explanations. 

"We have to clean this society up because right now it stinks like hell," Mr Honda said. "Osaka has become a real dump these days and it's up to us to make it as it was before. So far the boys are doing a good job by showing they are ruthless on TV."

"We also have another main target on our hands," Aki added. Mr Honda stared at his daughter, surprised that she insisted on interrupting his speech. She moved over to the OHP to display a coloured photo of a brown-haired girl who looked like she was aged 19-20. "This is Kino Makoto. She is the reason that I am in this foul mood and why most of my friends are in hospital. It's been rumoured that she has a violent reputation and is sensitive. She thinks she can just walk into my town and be the ruler of Osaka by taking out her toughness on my buddies. For goodness sake, they were trying to be friends with her." Aki couldn't stop spitting with huge revulsion while she described this girl. "She has no manners and her violent outrage has to stop. Then we'll take out anyone else who is like her."

"I have to agree with Aki-san," One person said. The other three guests chortled agreeably amongst each other. Aki pushed her chest out proudly from the work she had pulled off. This was the kind of support she needed. She was going to do whatever she could to eliminate Makoto from this town. Even it meant killing her. Knowing the press, they were too stupid to understand the truth and would make some cover story up that involved an accident. 

"When does this operation begin, Aki-san?" Another quiet voice echoed in the room. Everyone else around the table stared at the shy boy sitting behind his laptop. Aki frowned briefly then let the pride sink in again to say, "It starts in two days time. Makoto is worth a lot of money to kill so boys if you and your friends want fun with her then I suggest you take it in turns with shooting your guns, ok?" 

****

Her loud tone overpowered the shy boy's laptop noises, which was a good thing because she had no idea what he was doing. She just guessed that he was typing in all her words to remember them for the operation. But she was wrong. Nagi typed in the exact details in his email message and pressed the send button to Crawford's email address. It was a good thing that he was chosen to be undercover. Schuldig would use his time to play with people's minds rather than fish out information. Farfarello was amazingly behaving himself as he sat in the room to listen to the meeting. He hadn't lashed out in any insane manner with Aki or Mr Honda (yet). It seemed that Berserker was listening to Prodigy's advice for this investigation and agreed that it wouldn't be wise to mess up their undercover status. 

Whoever this Kino Makoto was, she was going to be in deep shit by Aki and other ruthless assassins she intended to hire. However that didn't matter at the moment for Nagi. What was important was to take Mr Honda and his daughter out. That was Crawford's main intention on this investigation. They'll be after Schwarz too Nagi thought in concern. He and Farfarello couldn't do much right now – except send information to the other two Schwarz team members about what was happening with Aki and Mr Honda.

TBC

Sorry that this chapter didn't have any action in it. I wanted to give more info on what Aki and her father are up to. I know that all of Schwarz are OOC too -.- 


	8. ch 8

Schwarz Blitz 8

AN#1: In chapter 3 I wrote that Schuldig had a bandanna across his forehead. That was my mistake. I meant to say 'headband'. Bandanna is usually a ribbon tied around your forehead (think um…Ryu from Streetfighter 2 or Joe Higashi. They both have bandannas). 

AN#2: Did you know that it was Crawford's birthday at the end of last month? Damn I completely forgot to celebrate. Gomen, Crawford-san ~_^. Hopefully he won't shoot me in the head for forgetting his birthday ^^;;

****

The crowd cheered at the top of their voices as the winner of the karate tournament posed in the middle of the ring, one arm raised high in the air. Makoto couldn't believe she had won after being a participant in this tournament for so many years and had never come near to first place. But time had changed and here she was, her feet by the face of the current champion; someone who she had never heard of in Japan. The trophy cup was rightfully Kino Makoto's now. And so was the 8 million-Yen prize money. 

She was on the victory side and it wasn't from a mere bloodthirsty street fight she had grown used to over the growing up stage. Makoto won for sportsmanship and a good reputation among the crowd. People could now learn to respect her for whom she was (finally) and not piss her off for being called Karate Maniac in the High School days. It was remarkable how she didn't bleed as much as she normally would on the streets. Only one or two tiny bruises appeared from her face and arms yet it didn't stop her from grinning joyfully at the crowd of excited people sitting at the far back.

After she took the small trophy from the referee and smiled in front of the cameras, Makoto dashed passed more of the media to reach backstage, away from the noisy spectators that had sat down through an impressive tournament final for two hours. Wow she had never felt this exhausted or had sweated this much since she was a teenage heroine. Burning off the energy throughout the tournament left her head wanting more action.

Come on you've just won the final after two hours of sparring The angelic voice wouldn't give the new champion nagging a rest. But Makoto didn't take any notice that she was sweating heavily and her body temperature had risen by double. It would be a waste if she didn't take this opportunity to use the rest of her stamina before taking a shower in the changing room to cool off. No! She realised. It was best to take it easy. A champion ought to rest then start a new career as the top Karate competitor.

Makoto gently placed the shiny trophy on the bench and took out a towel from her bag to wipe her face and neck. Shame there was no fan to turn on in the room. It would blow away the burning heat that had started to spread across the room and steam up the mirrors. She removed her belt and Gi, tossed it into her bag then stepped into the hot shower. The boiling water washed away the unnecessary odour on all parts of her skin. Adding the shower wash gave her a greater sensation of pure relaxation.

Makoto watched the bubbles float away through the drain of the shower, passing her toes. She loved this experience. And it had to be a dream for sure. No one could have a really good shower after a victory. The last time she had a victory in a fight, something else had to happen, which was either bad or good. A bad result was the likelier one. One example was when she first encountered Schuldig after pummelling the young junkie during the night. She forced her pessimistic attitude to not ruin her happy moment as she finished showering and started to change into drier clothes. Fighters deserved good moments in their lives, didn't they?

Noticing her hair was still very wet, Makoto decided to leave her long chestnut strands down, ignoring the strong clinging that they all created on the back of her neck. As she shut the door to the changing room, the new karate champion received a violent shove to her right shoulder. Who dared hit her so hard? That was just RUDE. She cocked her head to the side to see who asked for trouble. Makoto knew it would be 'her' no doubt. Expectedly, the opponent was pissed off for losing to an amateur.

How could she not see that her opponent was none other than her manageress, Aki? Makoto was too deep in fighting mode to see who she was up against during the fight. All it mattered to her was to throw in punches, kicks and takedown attacks to grab the victory. Now she had a reason to be happier on this exciting night. Aki was the current karate champion but had her title taken by Kino Makoto, a resident who lived in Juuban and now moved to Osaka. Of course in reality Makoto knew that Aki wasn't capable of martial arts. She didn't have a sort of fighter's aura that Makoto would usually sense around people, particularly as a combatant herself.

"That was a tough match," Aki said. The current champion was having trouble preventing her anger from unleashing powerfully. Makoto could tell she was still angry from the surprised defeat and replied, "I know. You were good out there." She offered an open hand. It was a handshake of friendship.

"Tch, don't give me that 'praising the loser' shit. I'll get my title back in the future." Aki's eyebrows raised proudly and her head turned back to the front as she walked away. Jeez, this dream version of her boss was even bitchier than the real one. Not only was she a good karateka but a damn right arrogant bitch who merely cared about herself as the winner. 

Makoto wondered how she could have friends with an attitude at this level. And she meant the Aki in real life too. What was with the cold-heartedness in the older woman? Previously when she was with Schuldig and Crawford in the café she had practically drooled over Crawford's clean, cream suit and his dashing businessman looks. Makoto was glad she wasn't the heavily jealous type. Ok so maybe she was jealous because Aki was able to flirt and impress the two strangers but that wasn't important. Besides she had to worry about other things apart from Aki. She wanted to keep her eye on Schuldig most of the time. Crawford didn't seem as threatening as the German did. Everywhere Makoto went, she saw him. He knew where she lived and what she was thinking.

Forgetting about the brief rudeness from Aki and reminding herself that this was a dream, Makoto directed her feet to the exit of the stadium. Her dream mind seemed to know where everything was and she let her senses guide her freely down the hallways. I'm glad Aki isn't a fighter. It would make it harder for me to cope with her at work She thought. Having the trophy in her possession felt so amazing. It was a real accomplishment. Shame it was going to fade from her once she woke up. The trophy cup looked small enough to fit on the shelf above her fireplace. It would look awesome in the living room.

After putting the trophy back into her bag, Makoto encountered yet another obstacle and lifted her head up. Dammit why did there have to be another annoying face in a dream? This dream would become a nightmare now. 

"Oh not again," She moaned miserably. The orange haired son of a bitch was in her reality too now, eh? Her victorious smile from tonight had crumbled twice. First it was Aki and the latest person was Schuldig. She didn't care that her front strands were wetly clinging onto her cheeks to make her face look unnaturally shaped. Her fists clasped around her sports bag brutally at the sight of the German. Why the hell did he have to pop up? I didn't want him to come in. My mind was completely empty of that bastard all day today Makoto wanted to wake up but her eyes were still shut on the outside. She could tell.

"I'm not part of your dream," Schuldig replied, clearly responding to her inner thought. "I have chosen to come see you in this other world. Schoen, isn't it?" Was it possible for him to do that? Could he read her thoughts and also travel into her dreams? If it was true then it was just unfair. This dream had started to be a good one yet it had been ruined by the dream version of Aki and this guy too. Who cared if it was unfair? Makoto thought this little fighting thing against Schuldig was becoming very dangerous than before. First she discovered he was telepathic and the next thing she had realised was that he was able to go into her dreams while sleeping. Was he doing it right now? 

"Was ist los, Fraulein? Aren't you happy to see me? I thought you'd be glad." He stepped closer to her. His hypnotic eyes scanned her astonished façade. "Hmm…you just said you're so happy to see me." Through Makoto's expressions, her main remark had 'Oh shit' written all over. She didn't know how she was ever going to catch him reading her mind. It would take professional training to do the trick, wouldn't it? 

"Yeah. I'm happy to see you all right." She smiled forcefully then straightened her chin seriously. "So I can do this." Makoto somersaulted in the air and threw a back kick to hit him behind. It wasn't her strongest kick but it did manage to push him forward. Strike one went to Makoto, the newly crowned Karate champion. That sounded rather fitting for her, didn't it? She pushed aside the short pride status of being the winner and focused on her opponent. Makoto ran into the German as he stood back on his feet. He was faster in recovering than she was. And the swift dodging was the instant proof.

At the moment the Japanese girl wasn't concerned on why he enjoyed toying with her a lot. It was more important to be able to beat him in this fight so that he and Crawford wouldn't be able to mess with her ever again. A sure victory would be enough for them to back away, right? Makoto shouted and came in with God knows how many punches to Schuldig's stomach. Mastermind defended smoothly with both arms. Damn he was good in defending like Oracle was. A side thrust kick then a roundhouse kick came at Schuldig and he didn't have to do much other than slide away. 

"Your rage is making you strong, Makoto," Schuldig commented above the grunting the girl was releasing in her attacks. "But your strategies aren't getting you anywhere, I'm afraid. You'll have to do better than that." She stopped punching when she heard his words. He wasn't her Sensei. What would he know? Was he trying to prove that he was a smarter fighter than she was? What kind of jerk did he think he was, pissing her off then telling her how to fight? 

"You're not my teacher. You're my enemy!" Makoto shouted determinedly. 

Her right leg went into a sweep to Schuldig's feet however his speed outmatched her and he jumped on the other side. Oh she wasn't going to let him catch her behind again. Makoto turned her back to face him, returning to a front stance and ready to hit back. Schuldig's hands rested on his sides casually. He was honestly getting a kick out of this, wasn't he? What kind of enjoyment was this? Makoto honestly didn't understand men at all. She wished he would get rid of that smile. Then again another tiny voice was telling her it looked nice on him. For goodness sake, Mako-chan, wake up. This was Schuldig, a dangerous guy who loved to use his telepathy for his games. She shouldn't be letting his attractive features get to her. 

Don't smile. Don't blush. Don't…oh shit this is hard Makoto pushed herself to focus deeply. Considering the German as a Bishounen wasn't worth the time. She had to win this fight in the dream world. Then she could wake up happily in the morning and go to work to tell her friends of her dream of beating Aki in a fight. There was another alternative option she hadn't thought of yet. And it might be the best way to wake up properly. Makoto ran towards Schuldig to throw him a Sparkling Wide Pressure. 

She threw three more lightning attacks at the German, who was able to dodge each one easily. Dammit her aim was at a shit range. Concentrate, idiot Makoto thought Hey!. Her mind returned to its thinking stage and she discovered that it was the perfect opportunity for her to escape her dream. Her voice echoed to her brain, demanding to wake her up. Who cared about the punch? The opponent was down on the ground and really that meant she was the winner.

****

Makoto's eyelids immediately lifted up. Finally! She was up. And free from that idiot. Or wasn't she? Losing her relieved smile, her gaze met another pair of eyes that were adjacent to her. So it was true! Schuldig was here all night, making himself present in her dream voluntarily. He WAS capable of this ability. Makoto swallowed hard when she found that the tips of their noses touched each other gently and his eyes were very close to hers. Of course apart from the close facial contact there was also the fact that Schuldig had his hand on her rear. This was extremely embarrassing. 

"Hi," He said softly. Makoto cursed, threw herself away from him and got out of her bed. What made her angrier was the sight of seeing the German on her bed with his shoes. She only cleaned her bed covers yesterday after coming home from work. Her hands ran through her hair nervously. Each finger felt each individual strand and realised it was all dry rather than wet. Oh how could she forget? Her wet hair was in the dream. Duh! 

"You were very aggressive in that dream." Schuldig laughed. "Take a look at your room." Unfortunately he was right. Makoto saw the glass frames of the paintings on the wall had cracked and weren't at straight angles. The paper cover of her table lamp had been knocked down and the bedcover had fallen off the mattress. The fighting felt totally real. The window was open too. Oh damn. That was how Schuldig came in noiselessly. She forgot to close it last night. How stupid could she be? 

Makoto heard some crackling from her lamp and looked inside at the light bulb. Strangely she was able to feel the electric current flow through her. Oh no! This aggressive dream must also mean that she had used her electricity as well without realising it. Schuldig had pissed her off so much in that dream fight. 

"Why are you here?" Makoto asked, calming down from waking up in shock.

"I came to see you of course," Schuldig replied. 

"Get off my bed and leave!" She commanded.

Showing his hands in surrender, Schuldig slid off the bed. He wouldn't move as he stood against the bed. This was one grumpy sleeping beauty who had awakened from her deep sleep. The German was surprised at Makoto. Why didn't she often let her hair down? It was very wavy and smooth and he knew at the beginning that it was soft from feeling the tiny strands in his fingers. It wasn't very silky smooth but it was good enough for someone like him.

"If you don't leave I'll…" Without finishing her sentence, Makoto impatiently charged a Supreme Thunder at the German. He smiled and nonchalantly moved out of the way to miss the attack. He stood by the open window and looked at her teasingly. What I don't need is your annoying presence first thing in the morning Her face become a look of warning and Schuldig jumped out. Of course with a guy who had special abilities, he was able to survive the long drop to the ground. Makoto couldn't believe her morning greeting ended up like this. It was unpredictable. 

She knew he was going to come back for her for his pleasure. And she had to be ready when he did come see her again. What she needed was hot chocolate. Though suddenly Makoto was looking forward to her next meeting with Schuldig more and more these days and now she had begun to see his face wherever she was. His orange hair and seductive eyes were all she could see now. Blinking furiously, Makoto told herself to be serious. Shit, she was losing it completely. 

Schuldig looked back up at the apartment. That dream was fun to be in. And seeing her use her electrical powers mightily gave the amusement higher entertainment for the German. She was **something, wasn't she? And he could tell she was confused on her feelings. He could have sworn he caught her thinking how much of a cool guy he was. For that he was honoured by the compliment. Though most of the time Makoto's thoughts had consisted of rage and revenge to get back on him, which was understandably fun in his opinion. That was the whole idea of his little mind game, to piss her off for the pleasure.**

Apart from this game, Schuldig remembered hearing her mind say she didn't need his presence in the morning. Well He thought She'll need me when they come after her. She'll need Schwarz by her side no matter what. I'm certain the young Fraulein will thank me later on. Flicking his hair back, he opened the door to his car and returned to the hideout. Crawford should have new details on the operation to help the young Japanese girl. Schuldig didn't want her to die. She was too fun to have around. 

TBC.

Oh BTW 'Was ist los?' means 'What is wrong?'


	9. ch 9

Schwarz Blitz 9

Special note: _Jochi, this story is personally dedicated to you.  Not solely because you and I are both Schwarz lovers (okay one reason I suppose :P) but because you have been reading most of my Jupiter fanfics (even my first ever fanfic ~_^) and have constantly reviewed them with real generosity. -sees readers waiting impatiently- OK I'm done talking now, everyone ^_^;; Sorry for the little off-topic scenario.  Thanks again to everyone else for reviewing.  _

****

Yuka, Mei and Jun couldn't believe their eyes as they reread the bold words on the sign that had been plastered on the café window.  Surely this wasn't one of Aki's stupid jokes.  Or was it the fact that she was being a lazy bitch.  Echoes of 'I can't believe she's doing this' or 'What the hell is she thinking?' hovered between the three waitresses, which proved that they were all thinking on the same wavelength and indeed were all pissed off with this shocking discovery.  This was a good start to the morning, wasn't it?  

"Hey everyone, what's up?" Makoto asked as she skidded on the pavement.  Why were these three looking stunned? She wondered.  As though reading her mind, Mei pointed to the door window soundlessly.  Makoto moved forward to see what was written on the sign.  Her eyes also enlarged and eventually matched the same expression as the other three waitresses.  "OK pardon me if my eyesight is bad but does that really say…?"

"It's real all right," Jun squealed furiously.  Makoto's jade eyes zoomed in again, her pupils moving inwards towards her nose.  The sign was not fooling anyone.  The font was bold and in capitals.  And the words spelt out, 'CLOSED FOR TODAY.  HAVE TO DEAL WITH OTHER BUSINESS.' This had to be honest bullshit.  What kind of prank was this supposed to be? What were the regular customers going to do? They would be stuck outside their favourite café, unable to find a place to eat hot food.  What did Aki mean by other business? Maybe her father would finally be able to talk to her about her foolish behaviour towards the employees.  That had to be a possibility.  Makoto could picture Aki's father yelling at her while she squealed in her chair hopelessly.  Now that was pure evil!    

Then another silly thought came to mind, which broke off the evil smirk on Makoto's lips.  What if Aki had a special liaison with Crawford and Schuldig? Makoto could disgustingly see the woman flirting with Crawford and showing off at all the jealous females.  With those kinds of looks, these two guys definitely had admirers in the public.  Makoto once saw two sluts eyeing her sharply when she was in the bar, on the night she first met the German Bishounen.  She had reminded herself many times that she wasn't jealous of the older woman.  Aki wasn't a true beauty.  She covered her true identity behind heavy eye make up and foundation that didn't match her skin.  

"I got up an hour early for nothing!" Yuka wailed and stomped her feet on the pavement angrily. "Why couldn't we have thought of the same thing? That would drive her mad."

"Aki has the keys to this place and we don't," Mei responded logically.  Yuka slapped her forehead and murmured 'duh' quietly.  The four waitresses had the same question mark floating above their heads.  The main question was. "What were they going to do today?" They had nothing to do and that was supposedly a good thing, right? That meant no nagging from the boss for one day.  Makoto suddenly smiled cheerfully and said, "A day off is a day off, guys.  At least we can get away from Aki for 24 hours, right?"

"You know, Makoto has a point.  May as well use as much free time as possible on this day off, eh?" Jun sniggered. "I'm going back home to sleep all afternoon.  What about you guys?"

"Mei and I are going shopping.  Gonna start using some of our salary!" Yuka winked jokingly and dragged Mei's arm with her, heading to the shopping complex that had a short walking distance from the café.  Makoto briefly remembered that she had enough money in her account since she started this job.  It wasn't the same as a millionaire's account but it was enough to support her in buying clothes, food and the latest CDs.  

Makoto saw Jun glancing at her from the corner of one eye, expecting an answer to her question. "I'll probably just hang out here for a while." She was about to turn away when Jun spoke.  

"Tell me something, do you remember a customer with long orange hair? Yuka told me that he was with a tall black haired guy who spoke to Aki two days ago in the café." Jun rolled her eyes at the mention of Aki.  Welcome to my club Makoto thought understandably then brought her mind back on the subject regarding Schuldig and Crawford. "She said you confronted him outside.  You didn't cause any commotion or anything, did you? I'm talking about having a fight because you're not the sort of person who's violent."  

That was an understatement.  Makoto had become more violent these days with these two idiots around.  She had the feeling either one of the three waitresses would bring this up sooner or later.  Her behaviour towards the two peculiar Bishounen distinctively showed on the outside.  Still it wasn't worth telling them her fighting skill.  It would intimidate them to a higher level.  

Jun nudged her elbow into Makoto's chest cheekily, "If the guy is your crush, don't be afraid to admit it.  We're all women you know.  It's okay to discuss romance." 

Makoto laughed forcefully.  Yep Jun was correct on that point.  They were all female, worked as waitresses and hated their manageress as though she was Satan's daughter.  Makoto thought it would be too hard to explain fully on how she met Schuldig and mention he was her so-called stalker who wouldn't leave her brain alone.  

The whole of Japan wouldn't be interested in paranormal stuff anymore.  The news on Youmas appearing everywhere were all in the past and it was likely that people such as Yuka, Mei or Jun weren't going to be very serious on these matters.  Who would believe there were real psychics or super soldiers in this peaceful country? Makoto was a believer because she had undergone Schuldig's mind games more than twice and fought against his agility in the dream world and reality.  Plus she was a former fighter against Youmas.  She had to be aware of her surroundings, no matter how crazy they sound.  Anything could happen and at least one Sailor Senshi had to be in different towns to be a saviour.

"No," Makoto replied, "I knew he wanted to steal my money and just told him to back off.  Nothing bad went ahead."

"Wow, you smarty-pants," Jun replied. "What about the other guy? He didn't have anything to do with your early night disappearance from my birthday party, did he?" 

"Oh gosh no." Makoto's cheeks were about to flush hotly very soon if these sorts of questions kept flying at her.  

"Hey, I do believe you," Jun said, responding to the crystal-clear frown developing slowly on the younger girl's face.  "Take it from me.  Men can be animals." Yawning, she paced down the street, her figure becoming a faded dot as she walked further away from the café.  Makoto was relieved that that little question time was over.  It would sound so odd to find out how a good cook in fact had a violent side, which came out during the night.  Those characters were fictional.  But Makoto was a real person.  She was a chef and a fighter all rolled into a heavy mixture.  Since the café wasn't open, Makoto wasn't able to fetch her usual bag of freshly made chips in the morning and decided to get another snack from the bar.  

Of course it was unhealthy to drink alcohol in the early hours of day.  But she wasn't alcoholic and orange juice was what she loved to have in the morning along with buttered toast. As expected, the bar had no customers and the smell of alcohol was very faint.  Fried eggs and baked beans spread across the stuffy room and it was definitely better than cigarette smoke.  Makoto greeted the bartender then ordered eggs on toast to start off her free day from work.  She asked the bartender if he had any idea on why Aki was absent.  It was unusual how the manageress didn't give her notice yesterday.  It would have made everyone's mornings a lot easier and not tiring.

"Aki doesn't sound like the sort of person to take the day off suddenly," the bartender commented. "It must be a personal emergency."

"Yeah right," Makoto mumbled and bit into her toast as soon as she sat by a table.  She was sure there was something more serious than an emergency.  Something more worth worrying.  It was good to have a day off today.  Everyone at work would think she was crazy if they caught her moaning about Aki.  Or Schuldig Her sleep was completely ruined this morning because of that bastard.  He had to make a fool of himself and come into her dream without any permission.  To make her wake up call worse, he had to be so close to her – in her bed for goodness sake.  

Having Schuldig near her in that position did scare her a little.  It was the same with him touching her hair, arms and neck.  The fighter in her couldn't help but switch off when that happened.  Her muscles were locked in and she was unable to move anywhere.  Schuldig was able to make her paralysed so he could do what he wanted.  Damn he did sound like a sick person who loved to play.  Jun was right again on another aspect.  Men were animals.  Schuldig was a sick animal who had ideas of scary amusement.

Makoto was ready to start on her orange juice until two chairs on the opposite side of the table pulled back.  Her narrowed eyes lifted upward from her glass and she huffed irritably at the sight of her new friends.  Dammit she wanted day off from work and instead she got some other people to annoy her.  She slammed her unfinished orange juice on her tray, stood up from her seat and began to leave the table.  Two strong grips lunged onto both her arms but she wouldn't let herself be fooled around again and tried to break away.  

"Sit back down," Crawford ordered.  "We're not here to make fun of you this time."

"Yeah right!" Makoto answered back furiously. "Leave me alone for once."

"Es tut mir leid but you're too good to be left alone," Schuldig said in a charming tone.  Oracle raised his eyebrows warningly at his German companion.  "I'm being serious here.  Even you admit she's fun, Crawford.  Or have you forgotten?" 

The American took no notice of Schuldig's remark and set his eyes back on the Japanese girl. "You may find this discussion interesting." Makoto shook her head sceptically and realised that the grips on her arms had tightened from her refusal to cooperate.  Who cares what they want to talk to me about? I'm more concerned on what Aki is up to Makoto pondered curiously.  

"We can tell you about that," Schuldig replied.  Makoto shot an angry stare at him.  That made her the second person to give him a glare in one go.  She had a right to be pissed off with the German. He had being a pain in the neck enough times since this morning.  She honestly hated it when he replied to her thoughts like that.  This was very tempting.  They could tell her what Aki was up to.  After all she did talk to them before (unfortunately).  What if this was a joke? What if they wanted to make her believe this story? Something was pulling her in to let her listen to Schuldig and Crawford.  

Schuldig, you are killing my head Makoto thought, knowing the German picked up her last comment.  She may as well see what they had to tell her and then decide if it all made sense or not.  If she thought it was strange to have Schuldig sleeping cosily in her bed then she was mistaken.

"Sit down if you don't want to cause trouble in this position," Crawford repeated.  Makoto was surprised at the American's intelligence.  She had the exact same idea as he did.  It was too weird to stir trouble at a time like this.  Trouble usually came in the night when people were drunkards and had poor sobering abilities.  Sadly she had to agree with this warning and set her tray back down on the table.  Automatically the two holds on her arms broke off to return to their original hosts.

Makoto wasn't able to drink the rest of her orange juice while her gaze moved from Schuldig to Crawford.  Two pairs of different coloured eyes moved in the same direction as her emerald irises.  She felt as though she was in an interview room and these two men were the ever so dangerous interviewers who expected decent answers from her.      

"So what do you have to tell me?" She asked. "Why should I be interested in what Aki is up to?"

"Along with a group of friends, she has caused the riots you see happening on the streets each night," Crawford explained.  "To Aki's father, Alex Honda, he believes that the society in Osaka has become a wasted land."

"In other words, they want Osaka to be a violent place again," Schuldig added. "Of course that's not your style of fighting, is it, Fraulein?"

"I only fight if I have to. Not because I feel like it.  So one point goes to you for a correct answer, Schuldig." Makoto faked a smile at the German then swallowed her orange juice up in one go.  The taste had become sourer from not being touched for ten minutes and it tasted horrible.  The sweetness had been ruined by the arrival of two companions.  It didn't shock her as much when she noticed that Aki's father didn't call back in reference to his daughter's behaviour at the café.  As if he would tell his daughter off.  He wouldn't dare.  And besides they were working together it seemed.

"What does this have to do with me?" Makoto queried in puzzlement.  

"Two team mates have gone undercover to find out information at Alex Honda's home.  They've been emailing us with the latest news," Oracle said as though a robot processing data.  Were there two other people in this posse? Makoto couldn't believe her ears.  Who were these men anyway? Who were the other two members? They must be a special syndicate who worked with the Government.  Or maybe they were something else she hadn't discovered yet.  She couldn't stop thinking questionably.    

"What does this have to do with me?" She repeated, slightly more impatient.  

"Well, don't you want to stop her from being a troublesome bitch?" Schuldig gave her a logical question this time.  "Crawford had a vision that she will attack tonight.  At least four gunmen will be on the run, making noise and killing people throughout this street.  Oracle's visions never lie, meine Fraulein.  After all…" He stood up to move his chin closer to Makoto, forcing her to look into his eyes. "…You hate her, don't you? This is your chance to get her back for the way she's treated you at work.  You know you want to make her bleed." Feeling his finger stroke on her chin gave Makoto an electrical flow.  He was tempting her to fight hard, wasn't he? This was the first time that a man was giving her a surge of electricity rather than the other way round.

"This sounds like a joke to me!" Makoto picked up her tray. "You're just trying to be stupid clowns.  Don't EVER give me stories like this again!" She stormed off to return the plate and pay the bartender.  Her head spun around so that she was nowhere in sight of Schuldig or Crawford's direction Their humour sucks.

/That was worth it, wasn't it?/ Crawford said.  Schuldig sniggered as his fingers tapped on the table. /What are you smiling at?/ 

The German's smile followed as his playful face swirled to the American /Makoto will be out on the street tonight.  She believed our story/. 

/What?!/  

/I read her mind before she left.  She said she might take a look/ Schuldig smiled /I told you she'd believe us/.  Once Makoto found out that this story about Aki was real then she would be in for more surprises tonight.  Schuldig couldn't wait to see her in action.

TBC

Es tut mir leid = This is one way of saying "I'm sorry."


	10. ch 10

Schwarz Blitz 10

**** 

"I've sent Nagi the next details on the attack," Crawford informed the German passenger as his mocha eyes remained on the laptop screen.  

"Did you mention about…?" 

"Yes, I did.  Don't worry I'm sure Nagi will understand," The American answered promptly.  Schuldig sighed in relief and slumped further down in his seat.  Prodigy did have feelings towards that weird Schreiend girl, Tot back in the past.  Surely he would understand the similar thoughts to Mastermind.  If Oracle didn't bother sending him the email about Makoto, it was likely that the other two Schwarz members would follow Mr Honda's orders and start killing people, including the Japanese girl herself.  Truthfully Schuldig didn't want to see her get into a mess tonight.  It would be a waste for him to not be able to look into her precious mind any more.  

Ten more minutes to go, according to the Schwarz leader and then it would be show time.  From Nagi's past emails, he had said that Berserker had been intimidating Aki and the co-workers (of course with a strange appearance like that) but most of the time had been in control of his killing sprees because of this undercover duty's importance.  It seemed that Nagi and Farfarello had convinced Mr Honda very well in proving their obedience to this so-called aim in improving society.  He and his daughter were also going to be receiving surprises from Schwarz and not just Makoto.  

Surprising people was such a fun charade and Schuldig wanted the privilege in doing this to HIS victim while Berserker and Prodigy had the honour of surprising the other co-workers at Honda's HQ.  As though Crawford was able to read the German telepathically, he remarked, "Don't get too excited, Schuldig."

"Tut mir leid, Crawford.  I can't help myself," Schuldig winked.  How could he think of fun during a mission? The American wondered, slightly in irritation.

****

Makoto watched the small lightning bolt travel from her fingers and strike towards the different tiles on the pavement.  Its brightness created a sort of glowing effect down the whole of the night-shaded street and it could have passed as an alternative source for dim lampposts.  The young Japanese girl had to psyche her mind up all night since leaving the bar during the early afternoon.  She wasn't sure if what Schuldig and Crawford had told her was true.  But a second voice had been too curious and insisted that this little rumour ought to be taken seriously.  What if it was true? 

Whatever was going to happen tonight, Makoto didn't want to waste time sitting at home, imagining ways of beating Aki up on the street.  Of course this little imagination game was one way to psyche her brain up tonight.  Who knows? She could take out the inner anger on the unlucky opponents she had coming her way.  All night Makoto occasionally had brief scepticism popping up now and then as she practised her moves, including her newly acquired electrical ability.  She had known Schuldig was someone who enjoyed tormenting people and it wouldn't come as a complete shock to her if all this was a game that he and his mysterious buddy Crawford had planned.

Makoto wondered if believing in what they had told her today had anything to do with Schuldig's telepathy.  Did he make her believe in each word they spelt out? If he did use his power on her, she didn't feel anything at all.  Although when he was at her apartment she did have a headache developing soon after.  It was as though her thoughts and feelings were all in a bad mixture.  Well she wasn't in the mood to have another headache right now.  There was a more important issue to deal with.  

Makoto's pupils shrunk from the bright blue colours her lightning bolts had on their surface.  She wasn't using all her power from this technique.  It was just a sign to say that she was alive and fit to be in combat mode.  She was positive the other Senshi had the same discovery as her, finding out that they were able to use their elemental powers without having to transform into their Sailor fukus.  Makoto couldn't believe her eyes when she realised this ability during a fight one day.  Her anger had swelled to a high level and then all of a sudden a bright light came from her hands.  And she knew it was a Supreme Thunder attack that had been used.  Soon after that Makoto was able to use her other known Senshi attacks in a normal state.

How could this have happened? Ever since that day the transformation pen never worked.  It was all too coincidental since everyone officially announced their retirement as the Sailor Senshi.  But did it matter? Well perhaps it did.  Being able to use the Sailor Senshi power without transforming did mean everyone was sort of odd in public.  OK not mutants like the X Men but still it was similar to the comic notion.  The former Sailor Senshi just had to keep their secrets to themselves and use it when it was necessary.  

Makoto did use lightning once when she had her first fight in Osaka.  It consisted of tiny shocks to the person's body though, not a dramatic move like Supreme Thunder Dragon.  That would only come if she were desperate to survive and was close to losing.  When or where will she strike? Makoto thought.  She knew Aki always had an unusual aura flashing in the café.  There had to be something hiding behind that mannequin face of hers and the reason for the bitchiness towards the waitresses.

Makoto's ears pulled upwards and stopped playing with electricity when she caught the sound of someone's arrival.  It was predictable if it was Schuldig who had come to see her.  She had grown used to seeing his annoying face night and day.  Whether this was supposed to be a good or bad thing was something Makoto wasn't entirely sure of.  The bad thing was that he was able to read her mind and piss her off with some of the emotions.  The good thing…well, her sensitive side towards men had to unleash some time and she had to confess about being intrigued by his strange charm. 

Slapping her cheeks, Makoto realized this was one reason why she didn't want to get too close with any more men, especially if they happened to be her opponents.  So far the men she had encountered weren't to her liking (thank goodness), which meant a determined victory was all she needed.  However if there was someone such as Schuldig or Crawford then she could consider herself to be in deep shit and her cautiousness had to rise to a higher level.  Attraction towards the opposite gender wasn't the highest priority during fights.  What meant to her the most was picking up the victory and making the fight quick and easy.

Looks like someone wants to say hello Makoto thought and picked up a wooden plank by her left foot.  It shouldn't be too hard to find the opponent, particularly when in the main part of the town and not in an alleyway.  If she were in the latter then it would make finding the opponent harder for her.  Her deep green eyes swirled in all directions.  Who could it be? She promised herself to scream if it was Schuldig who was playing with her like always.  The footsteps came closer and Makoto knew he wanted a sneak attack.  

But that wasn't going to happen! Makoto swung the wooden plank behind her when she turned around and struck the opponent in the ribs and then to the back of his left leg.  The attack was too fast for the person to counter against and he was on knee already.  With relief it wasn't Schuldig who wanted to surprise her.  

"Oh, it's YOU," Makoto recognised the junky from before. The last person to attempt a robbery on her.  What the hell was he doing back here? He should have known he couldn't beat her.  Or was he trying to be a man and show he had enough balls to take her on for the second time? Only tonight she had only worsened his body injuries.  Makoto saw the faint traces of the bruises he got from before when they first met.  She forced herself not to smile because of the lovely damage she had created on him.

Lowering the plank down from defence, she asked, "Thought you could take me on again, huh? Geez, you are pathetic."

"I didn't come to fight!" The boy said, trying to balance on his legs. "Just being a messenger." Makoto's eyebrows rose.  A messenger, did he say? 

She grabbed his jacket collars and looked him in the eye at a deadly angle. "Who sent you?" 

"A-A-Aki did." The familiar name caused more tension among Makoto's fingers while she grabbed the boy's collars, giving her a chance to strangle him easily.  "It's the truth, I swear.  She wants to see you.  Oh man please don't kill me." 

Kill! Why would I do that? I'm not a murderer Makoto's only objective in this town was to beat the trash down and watch them suffer.  Killing somebody was never a wise option.  She didn't have that sort of ideal on justice.  To be honest the girl rarely thought of murder.  It never crossed her mind and the only thing she cared about was to watch the person bleed, whimper then run home guiltily.  But then…killing a mad person was a tempting idea.  Should she kill this guy now? Hold on to your crazy thoughts, Mako-chan.  He said Aki sent him.  This meant one obvious point.  Schuldig and Crawford were telling the truth.

"Why wasn't she at work today?" Makoto questioned, pulling the boy's face closer to her nose angrily. 

"She and her dad have been planning on making the society like before.  You know, full of good shit. They wanna get rid of the crap that reeks in this place.  And you're next!" The boy shrieked at the pain across his throat. "I'll take you to her if that's what you want.  Just please…" Automatically Makoto let her fingers free from the boy's jacket, knowing what he wanted.  If he had the desire to live, he would have to start making use of it properly from now on.

"Take me to her," She ordered.  The boy whined a weak 'uh-huh' as he was ushered by the violent girl behind him.  How could Makoto not take any notice in finding out who sent this boy and the previous ten muggers? How could she not see it was Aki all along? Stupid girl! She thought angrily and followed the boy's direction.  Hearing Aki and her father get rid of 'the crap that reeked in this place' would mean more violence and trouble in Osaka.  Everything mentioned on the news started to make more sense to her now. 

As the boy walked, he suddenly flinched in his arms and immediately fainted to the ground.  It took an extra minute for Makoto to be able just about hear the sound of a sniper being fired in her direction.  A third shot went into the boy's stomach and she didn't have to look down at him to see he was instantly dead on the spot.  It seemed that he wouldn't have to show her where Aki was.  It appeared the enemy had found her already and they thought this junkie boy was of no use anymore.  Makoto didn't want to waste her sympathy on the dead person lying next to her.  It was his loss for choosing to be in this lifestyle.  There wasn't anything she could have done to help him.  And it was likely that he wouldn't accept her assistance anyway. 

Crawford said there would be at least four people Makoto recalled the explanation.  Her mind went into a focused trance as she tried to pinpoint where each person was.  She had the feeling these opponents would be tough like Schuldig and Crawford.  If anyone could use a sniper and aim perfectly like a minute ago then it would issue a warning to the opposing party.  Makoto had to be alert and be sure that this wasn't playtime.  Wait! What if…?  Her mind went into a thinking state.  What if Schuldig and Crawford really were setting up an assassination to take her out and did work for Aki and her father? 

She swore briefly before walking past four clothes shops silently.  If she survived this then she would give one hell of a beating to those two idiots.  She was going to take everything out on them.  And it wasn't going to be a nice sight.  For now she had to find where these other guys were.  Makoto couldn't help being too sensitive as she checked her surroundings.  Whenever she thought there was someone nearby, it ended up being the wind or an owl hooting on the lampposts.  Perhaps seeing the junkie boy die in three sniper shots was beginning to frighten her.

Nonsense, she said in her head and forced more concentration to her brain.  Becoming scared in the last minute was a very bad sign and could mean a defeat.  So where were these bastards then? Scepticism started to loom into Makoto again.  She shouldn't be letting her guard down like this, should she? I know you're here.  Come out the wooden plank balanced defensively across her chest, ready to strike when the enemy came out of hiding.  Her eyes and ears were all in combat status.  What she needed now was the opponent.

"Excuse me, are you Kino Makoto?"

She shortly gasped at the sound of the new voice.  Was it coming from behind her? It had to be.  Nobody was in front of her.  Her green eyes couldn't see anything except the shop windows and the phone box.  Her left ear caught the loading of a gun and her head swirled to the left.  Shit, nothing there.  The enemies must be in excellent hiding places.  Either that or they had the ability to be invisible.  Dammit this wasn't the world of comics or a sci-fi film.  

"Yeah," Makoto decided to reply to continue this game, "I'm Kino Makoto.  Who are...? Ow!" From the left side, a heavy nudge to the left hip sent her into the bottom of a lamppost, causing her to grunt unexpectedly when she landed on the ground.  Her hip literally felt like it had become a horrible inward dent when her hand felt the damage.  She repeated her question, "W-Who are you?" Her face was in a scrunched up fashion as her eyes ascended to her attackers.  Four shadows surrounded her, each one with a weapon.  

"We're your killers, girlie," The first person said.  This sounded like the one who asked for her identity.  

"And you're our prize for top cash," A second voice came in and laughed as he showed the shiny blade of his knife.  Oh I'm really fucked up this time Makoto thought, feeling her forehead dampen in sweat.  Her left hip was pulling her down to the ground and she wasn't able to pick her body up properly.  How was she going to get out of this?       

TBC.

Sorry this is shorter than usual ^_^;; I'm trying my best to get everything in order.  Not to worry this is nearly finished.       


	11. ch 11

Schwarz Blitz 11

****

Makoto had to pounce back onto her feet if she wanted to get a hit back on these opponents.  The nasty jab to the hip was a sign of bad awareness for the beginning of a fight.  She forcefully pushed the pain through her system, minimizing its feel from the inside till it was nothing.  These guys all looked the same in the darkness.  Everyone had a similar fashion sense unbelievably though it was hard to tell what they really looked like in the dark because they were far away from any lampposts. 

The recovery bought her enough time to evade a knife strike to the head.  Missing the sharp edge of the blade she then rolled to the ground, away from the four men.  So much for a good start.  The word 'concentrate' repeated over and over again in her thoughts.  Was she nervous? She shouldn't be, should she? When it came to starting street fights Makoto always had neutral feelings and took first glances at what the opponent had to demonstrate as a combatant.  

But she couldn't help feeling rather worried about this fight.  It was as though something in the air was giving her a warning sign, to tell her this wasn't an average brawl she had occasionally won every night.  She hardly ever got ticklish bumps travelling down her spine but tonight she seemed to be feeling it all very clearly.  Ok so this wasn't a Youma like in the Sailor Senshi days though if her defensive senses spoke of the truth then she had to watch her front and back with immediate awareness.  What if this was her so-called vision of the future? What if it was here that she was about to end her life? 

Shit she thought she sounded like Crawford here, informing her about a vision of her death.  Makoto's emerald eyes grew larger when she saw a huge fist coming at her.  Reacting in time through an X block, she countered with a knee to the groin and pushed the second guy away forcibly.  Four punches came at her and she defended each one with light upper blocks to her face.  All four thugs teamed together and delivered numerous kicks towards her.  How could Makoto defend everything in one go? This was a test of speed.  She could just about fight off every single blow and counter with a few of her own jump kicks to their faces. 

You'd have to have sharp eyes to follow the person's every move if they chose to attack fast like a cheetah.  If her brain didn't miscount stupidly, Makoto guessed that she had given twenty fast snap kicks altogether (though it felt as though it was less).  It was too fast to be caught on camera when you were kicking at sufficient speed.  The four men grouped together, acting as though the kicks she had given to their faces was nothing more than a scratch.  

This was like a martial arts kata.  The students were in sync as they demonstrated their moves in the correct order.  It was a shame she didn't have her friends to back her up. They would provide the perfect back up for an equal tag team fight.  Makoto didn't want to start regretting that she went down another path to her friends.  They all had happy lives and should be left as they were.  She didn't want to ruin their positive side of life with her need for help.  This was her fight she had to deal with.  She was the one who attracted these guys' attention.  They knew her name.  And they must be working for Aki. 

"TAKE THIS!" Makoto kicked the wooden plank in the air and watched it hit the third guy in the stomach.  The fourth thug gave a surprise punch to the right cheek and smashed her head into the wall.  She thought she had a broken nose though didn't get the chance to find out if that was true when two pairs of rough hands grabbed her shirt and threw her entire body into the air.  Makoto yelled as she eventually found her body flying across the street and landed on a metal bench.  Her jaw and palms vibrated uncontrollably when she came down.  Both her top and bottom teeth grinded together and Makoto thought she had bitten off a part of her tongue, disabling a moment to curse at the two men who just threw her. 

These guys had to be real army soldiers.  Why else were they this rough to her? Forget Schuldig and Crawford.  They were freaks in the psychic zone.  The four men she was facing tonight had to be trained fighters who were probably being fed steroids to boost their strength and abilities in combat.  Makoto was thankful for being a natural in fighting talent and wouldn't consider taking steroids to improve her skills.  Her palms felt like they had invisible bruises developing although there were only the red rashes spreading all over the surface.

I hate handicaps…yet they give me this challenging thrill.  Jeez I sound crazier than Schuldig She thought ridiculously as she forced herself off the bench, coping with the aching pain in her jaw, hands and other muscles.  What if she was becoming like the German without realising it? It would have been down to his powerful mind influence, wouldn't it? Makoto must have underestimated her opponents.  How could she not see they were tougher than expected from the first move they made? The hip strike had to be a sure enough sign to say 'We're not here to mess around.' Aki must have gone on a little tour to the different gangster bars or fight clubs to find the perfect opponents for Makoto.  Anyone believed Aki's word.  She had the power to manipulate the public.

Through the third thug's grin he had a gold tooth that showed clearly among the rest of his horribly yellow stained teeth.  It was a nasty sight and Makoto wished she could close her eyes to sleep.  But she couldn't, could she? Already her bones and muscles started to hurt and she shouldn't have taken things too easy from the start.  She should have been more alert while preparing herself earlier tonight.      

"Hey, do you think we should be this hard to her? She is a girl, you know." His head pivoted to his friends, who all frowned at each other as though the question had been asked in another language.    

"I guess…" The first guy replied hesitantly, sounding more like a youth of seventeen.

"Who cares? We have to do our job," The second dude cackled hysterically. "Check it out.  The girl is in pain but doesn't wanna give up.  That's why Aki said she's worth a lot of money if we finish her off.  Think about the money, guys."  Makoto thought she was a ghost as she heard the four bullies speak amongst each other.  Was that all she was to them?

They sounded more insane than her and Schuldig put together.  Dammit why did his name have to keep popping up so much? Why did strangeness have to run back towards him? Perhaps these guys were his friends.  She could see what they all had in common.  They all suffered the same sort of madness.  That sounded right.  Wait till she got her hands on him for setting her up.  

"Still want a piece of us, huh?" The fourth guy commented when he saw her get into a fighting stance.  Makoto shouted to him to shut up Don't make the pain take over.  "I don't think you know who we are…" As if performing in a show, he and his friends dashed into a circle around Makoto and all of a sudden attacked with non-stop strikes to the front and back.  Everything was happening so quickly; as though this was videotape on fast forward mode.  Makoto couldn't see her hands very well while they automatically defended each blow from the front and behind.  

She wasn't telling her defences to do this.  There was no time to give a strategy through each strike coming at her per minute.  Every fighting part had a mind of its own.  These guys were better in martial arts than she was.  She didn't need someone to tell her that.  Every man here had powerful hands and strong kicks that could put Makoto into shame as a fighter.  Had she finally been beaten? This wasn't a monster she was facing.  It was a human who trained longer in martial arts than she did.

The tight circle surrounding her slim body had deflected her kicks and Makoto knew sweeping each one of the thugs would only damage her feet.  She found this out the hard way by a brief attempt to bring the third guy down to his knees but the muscle in his stance was so stiff like a statue.  This was one of the worst handicap fights she had over the past.  Her energy wasn't being sucked away by a strange monster.  This was physical damage taking place tonight.  And shit it was torture.

Makoto panted tiredly from defending through blocks countless times, causing a stir of cruel amusement towards the four men.  Each one took it in turns to kick her at various levels of her figure.  Her knees.  Her hips.  Her face.  Each part received a strike and it made Makoto wince helplessly.  They had proven she was weaker than them.  The first guy's voice echoed behind her head.

"We're killers in case you hadn't realised.  We're more ruthless than trash like you," He taunted.  Makoto found her mouth screaming out of the blue as she felt a stab of torturous pain in her torso.  The fourth guy pulled the knife quickly out of her body, forcing her to yelp, then kicked her back muscles till she flopped to the ground.  Fuck, she was back down again, in more pain than ever This is bad!! Come on, Mako-chan.  

"Hey look up, girlie!" The second guy ordered, lifting her face up and kicking her to the side.  Blood spilled from her dried lips as she found her body staring into the dark sky and at the four grinning faces looking down at her defeated figure.  From here she could see the knife the fourth guy held in his hand.  The blade had HER blood on it and the red liquid was dripping onto the ground slowly.  She could see him laughing at the sight of her blood.  Makoto thought she would be sick when she spotted him licking her blood off his knife.  The sound of slurping disturbed her eardrums and it made the feeling worse when his friends let out lots of impressed 'Oohs'.  

Now she could see every face underneath the moonlight.  The first guy did look very young.  Much younger than her age and had an innocent façade.  Someone who didn't want to take part in this charade.  He seemed to be talking to someone through a walkie-talkie as he hovered in the background, away from the other three.  Maybe it was Makoto's imagination of course because her eyes weren't exactly wide open due to the immense pain she was undergoing.  The third guy seemed to be a definite thug all right.  He had a pierced nose and long messy hair that blended with his dark leather clothes.  

On the other hand, the fourth member of this killing party had one amber eye shining in the night.  It wasn't merely his one amber eye that intrigued Makoto, it was his short silver hair.  And his clothes.  What was with the heavy bandages on his arms? And what happened to his left eye? Maybe he lost it during a fight, which was why he put an eye patch on it.  Oh Makoto did not want to know all the gory details, thank you very much.  She was in no condition for guessing games and using her brain.  This night was too full of hell.  

"Aw shit why don't we kill her now? Makes it less painful.  Plus we can get the money quickly," The third guy said impatiently, checking his gun was loaded.  It was loaded, yes, though he only had one bullet in it.  And it was reserved for Makoto no doubt.  All it took was one bullet, right to the heart or brain.  He asked his teammates to check their guns and was horrified when they told him their guns were empty. "Oh fuck, I thought you all said you loaded these.  Am I the only one here who's the organised one? Geez, you jerks." Guess this guy must be the bossy one.  He must have persuaded Aki to hire him just so he could grab the money.

"Hey I remembered I loaded four bullets here," The second guy stated suspiciously as he observed his shotgun. "I swear I did put them in with my bare fingers, man."  The third thug mumbled 'bullshit' under his breath then added, "Never mind.  Guess I'll take the honour of killing the bitch.  Patchy boy over there did a good job of making her lose blood.  It shouldn't take long for her to die then." 

Makoto guessed that when he said patchy boy he meant the guy who stabbed her through the abdomen.  Why the hell was the youngest boy, i.e. the first guy, looking at her strangely? His cerulean eyes looked at her sharply as though he wanted to see her suffer for good.  Makoto had a hunch that he was suffering in his own personal issue.  For a minute there she had a brief pang of sympathy showing there.

Cutting off the thinking process in Makoto's mind, the third guy picked her weakened body by her ponytail and looked into her exhausted face.  She knew that he and his friends had a lot of delight in watching her suffer like this.  It was in their eyes, past their pupils and into their brain waves.  The third thug pointed his pistol to Makoto's forehead, giving his toothy grin once again.  

"I have to say you were good on the defensive side and had great moves.  But now…" His finger found the trigger. "You gotta die.  And we'll get our money." His friends cheered.

This reminded Makoto of the moment where Crawford was evidently about to shoot her in the chest during their sparring session a few days ago.  Was this going to be like Crawford's joke? Was she going to be fooled by an empty gun? No! She saw the third guy's gun had a real live bullet.  That was no fake object in his hand.  This was one bloody way to travel back to heaven, wasn't it? Shutting her eyelids, Makoto waited for the pain to surge into her brain at any time now.  All he had to do was shoot.  Then it would be over for her –again.  

"Bye, bye!" The third guy yelled gladly, laughing at the same time.  The gun pressed hard on Makoto's forehead.  Here it comes!!!! Her eyes closed harder as she awaited the impact.  She would have expected more pressure to the forehead as predicted but couldn't understand why she felt heavier weight in her stomach, which was where her knife injury was and it was starting to hurt again because of the pressure being inflicted upon her.  

There was also a gust of wind ruffling her ear and her body had a sense of horizontal levitation as she crossed through the air.  Her eyes were still closed and wouldn't open so she could see what was going on.  Was she hearing things imaginatively or did she just pick up the sound of someone getting a punch in the chest? Even when her eyes were shut she could tell where the person got a hit on his body just by listening to their sound.  

Makoto was too pre-occupied with the pain in her lower torso to notice she wasn't supposedly flying across the street and failed to also realise her arms had clutched onto something.  It was someone's jacket. The texture of the material seemed to be all too familiar.  Didn't all expensive jackets have the same strong material? Damn who gave a shit about whether that was true?  Makoto had a suspicion that it wasn't just the familiar feel of the person's jacket…it was the presence of this other person.  It could be someone she knew, particularly with the closeness of his body. 

She had to open her eyes.  She HAD to see whether she was losing her mind or not.  Her head ascended and pulled away from the person.  Her jade irises came back to the dark night as a blurry figure began to piece together in a clearer vision.  Oh shit it couldn't be…

"There you are.  I thought you would never open your eyes for me," Schuldig spoke in a low tone.  Both his arms had also clutched onto Makoto's tattered clothes and his long orange strands prickled her bruised cheeks.  If she was in the mood, Makoto would have punched him in the face for smiling at her through a bad time like this.  Then again she couldn't have been more grateful to see someone she knew (unfortunately) to help her out.  So for now she thought about letting him off for smiling at an untimely moment.  In fact she saw that her smile wasn't meant to be playful.  It seemed like a sign of relief and concern.

"Mein Gott, I didn't think they'd do this much damage to you," The German commented in slight horror as he saw the blood stain his hands after touching her bleeding injury that went from her lower back through to her abdomen.  

"How dare you…?" Makoto wasn't able to finish her sentence and decided to save the question till later.  She looked over his shoulder to see the third thug on the ground, holding one knee and moaning at how painful it hurt.  What happened there?

"I saved you from getting a bullet to your head," Schuldig explained after hearing the question in her mind.  Oh of course.  He was fast.  That explained the wind Makoto had felt just then.  Schuldig had grabbed her before the bullet went off and attacked the third guy. "Don't worry, Farfarello and Nagi will deal with him and the others."

"Who?" The German placed his index finger to her lips to silence her.  Who the hell were Farfarello and Nagi? What kind of names were they? They sounded totally odd for names.

"Oh shit who the hell was he?" The third guy demanded furiously. "The bastard tripped me." The second thug helped him to his feet but he refused the help and tried to force himself onto his feet.  He was acting like Makoto here when she was being beaten.  The third thug decided to change his target and use his last bullet on someone else.  "I don't know who you are but you're in the way of getting my best payment." He was stunned when he heard Schuldig snort under his breath sarcastically.  Did the German know what he was doing with that kind of attitude? These guys were psychopathic soldiers who were high on drugs.  They didn't mess around with their victims and being mocked was in this way was a bad idea.

"I'd take a look around if I were you," Schuldig suggested sneakily, pivoting his head to the side. "You're in for a surprise."

"What?" Both the second and third thugs exclaimed.  Out of nowhere the fourth member of the killer's group lunged at them both with his knife.  The knife went into the neck of the second thug, making him scream in a choking tone.  

"Who the hell are you...?" The second thug was dead straightaway from the immediate stab to the neck.   Oh my… Makoto couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the blood splatter like a fountain.  Whoa whoever the hell the guy was, he was surely in love with his knife.

"You're dead!!!" Enraged, the third thug charged in.  

"Farfarello, behind you!" The youngest boy shrieked as the third thug came behind the silver haired guy and went into a neck hold.  Wait so if that was Farfarello with the knife then the boy must be Nagi.  Well…that all seemed to make sense Makoto guessed.  I'll take care of him Nagi's eyes closed as though he was in a concentrated trance.  What was happening? Maybe he knew voodoo and wanted to prepare an incantation.  However the next thing Makoto saw completely shocked her.  The third thug was floating in the air as he still clung onto Farfarello's shirt.  He screamed for someone to put him down, unaware of what this act meant.          

"Oh…telekinesis," Makoto answered quietly.

"Sehr gut, Fraulein," Schuldig complimented.  Eventually when he let his fingers off the shirt the third thug struggled further as he tried to get himself down to the ground again.  Nagi opened his eyes and smashed him into the wall, creating a huge crack in each bricklayer.  "Whoa, go Nagi!" The young boy nodded solemnly to the German then awaited for the next action by the other team member.  Farfarello came back into action against his target and pushed his knife straight into the guy's heart, letting out a satisfied humph when he saw the blood drip from his lips and then the rest of the body slump down by itself.  He had to be dead, right? 

Makoto pulled herself away from Schuldig to walk over to the wide-eyed corpse.  That was an instant death all right.  She lifted her head to slowly turn it in the same direction as Farfarello and Nagi.  She honestly couldn't believe this was all for real.  This guy who licked her blood off his knife was a friend of Schuldig's.  And so was the innocent young boy standing further away.  Who the hell were these guys? Were they assassins? Psychic assassins sounded like a plot idea for a horror novel.  

"So let me get this straight, you guys are um…" Makoto's eyes diverted from each male person standing opposite her.  Was it okay to say they were on the good side? It didn't sound too right in her opinion. 

"We are part of an assassination group called Schwarz," Crawford's voice said as he too arrived on the street. "Good work Prodigy.  Berserker." His eyes darted to Farfarello. "Glad to see you didn't go out of control during the undercover mission.  Now we can just focus on…" A gunshot echoed in the air and startled all five fighters in the street.  They turned to see Aki, who had finally shown her ugly face in the night.  She was next to an off licence shop and her hand held a gun that was aimed at its target at less than two yards.

"The bitch turned up at last," Makoto mumbled.

TBC

Phew that took me forever to think up.  I know it sounds awfully confusing ^_^;; Well I should have one more chapter left then it's finished.  I apologise for the cliffhanger.

sehr gut = very good 


	12. ch 12

Schwarz Blitz 12

****

"Nice to see you're still here," Aki jeered, regarding the state Makoto was currently in.  The sneer on her face only meant she was enjoying the sight of the younger girl in blood and bruises.  Her eyes darkened in deeper disappointment when she recognised the four men known as Schwarz. "Shame on you for backing HER up.  My father will be so disappointed." 

"She isn't our concern as a matter of fact," Crawford replied as he stepped forward. "We're only here because you and your father are our main targets." 

What was this all supposed to mean? Makoto's mind was completely confused.  Great! So if she wasn't Crawford's concern, she could just walk out of here, right? However she would still be chased by Aki for a longer period of time, wouldn't she? Anyway what *did* Aki's father have to do with this? Was he a greedy bastard who wanted something from Schwarz? Oracle seemed to be a mind reader when he answered Makoto's question spontaneously. "Aki, your father doesn't deserve to take over Estet.  The organisation functions perfectly well as it is."

Aki crossed the street towards them, still holding out her gun threateningly. "Let me tell you something, Schwarz.  People like you don't deserve to be here, in MY town.  My father is wealthy enough to take over any place, including the freak school you all attended to." 

/What school does she mean?/ Makoto didn't stop to realise she was turning to Schuldig for an answer and knew he could pick up her thought.  

/She's talking about Rosenkreuß/ The German replied then decided to comment to Aki. "You know, you talk too much," he remarked /You just want to get into Crawford's pants, right?/.  Aki switched her heavily eye-shadowed gaze from Crawford to Schuldig.  Well that little insult undoubtedly caught her attention all right.  Did Mastermind insult her? Of course he did.  It was his way of pissing her off.  She was a true bitch.  The word was across her forehead.  Besides, women like Aki didn't have much class and anything to talk about except their hair.  Schuldig naturally would have chosen Makoto to Aki when it came to deciding who was the best victim for mind games.  Makoto's mind had more paths to explore.

Crawford was lucky to have had a vision of Estet being in a crisis two months ago and had prepared the little mission beforehand for Schwarz to investigate.  Although their encounters with Weiß had become so little, nothing stopped them from doing the same sort of job as those boys did, which was to stop anything strange or dangerous from growing.  Schwarz operated differently when it came to eliminating their targets.  They had psychic powers.  Weiss only had their weapons and their strategic minds.

"Since you're saying you want to get rid of anyone who's a freak." Makoto pushed herself forward from in between Schuldig and Crawford. "Guess I'm included then."

"Tch I knew you were a freak from the start," Aki said. "I knew you were *jealous* when you saw me talking to these two men here." She winked to Crawford.  Schuldig thought he was going to laugh uncontrollably as he watched Aki flirt in a stupid way.  He was right on that comment.  She only wanted Mr Honda to take over Estet so she could have the American all to herself.  But Crawford was a smart bastard and wouldn't be interested at all in this lady.  He would be more concerned in destroying the targets and getting the job done.  

Makoto refused to let a flush of embarrassment get to her tonight.  She would have one captivated audience, in the form of four strange Bishounen who all acted individually in their group.  She wasn't jealous when she saw Aki with them.  She made that statement full of determination and to the point.   Makoto thought the boss looked ridiculous while trying to flirt with Crawford.  Anyone in the café could tell Oracle didn't give any shit about the woman.  She was a complete nobody who had two sides to her.  Makoto knew her cheeks had already started to heat up helplessly and her jade eyes slowly looked over to Schuldig, who was raising his eyebrows at her intriguingly.  Shit now he would have more annoying crap to say to her later on.

"Look who cares about jealousy, Aki? I think you and I both want a piece of each other so let's get it on." Makoto swiftly moved into a front stance.  She shortly swore when she felt a small stab of pain in her lower back.  

"Ha, you're hurt," Aki said happily and covered a giggle. "This ought to be a piece of cake." Crawford gestured to his team members to leave the two women alone.  Farfarello and Nagi were puzzled at this surprising move but didn't say anything as they obediently walked away as their leader instructed.  

/You're kidding, right?/ Schuldig said as the other three members started to walk away /Why are we leaving her with the bitch?/.

/Aki is Makoto's target now/ Crawford insisted /We're going to drive to her father's office and 'deal' with him/.  The orange haired man uncertainly observed the raring Japanese female who was keen to take out her latest opponent tonight.  He'd seen her with the puncture from her back and knew she'd be physically weak during the fight.  Surely Farfarello was being more than too convincing from that attack.  But Berserker had to do something to convince the other two assassins that he and Prodigy were on their side and were having fun giving Makoto a hard time.          

/Schuldig, we'll come back once we finish our other business/ Crawford said.  Mastermind sighed and followed after the Schwarz leader silently.  Jeez, she was getting into *his* head too much now, wasn't she? Did Makoto care that the four men who had been standing behind her had disappeared? Her head was still looking straight ahead at the other woman giving her a death glare.  

"What's so funny?" Makoto asked as she watched Aki laugh out loud in an outrageously hideous sound.  Aki's gun seemed to be pointing sharply past Makoto's head.  If this was supposed to be a children's game where one person looked away while the other stole something off them or hit them in the face then it wasn't working well in Makoto's opinion.  She wasn't in the mood to play kids' games.  What she cared the most was to start a worthwhile pummel.  

"Looks like your bodyguards have left you," Aki answered.  Alarmed, Makoto swirled her head round.  Four figures had disappeared without her noticing a minute ago.  They were like ninjas, disappearing into the darkness without any sound and as though they were shadows.  Aki was probably thrilled to see Makoto in a lot of inconvenience.  This meant a better chance to kill her in one go now that Schwarz had gone somewhere.  All this evidence was telling Makoto that this was a set-up.  Schwarz had sent her to be killed by Aki.  

They had to be acting in front of her to create a show.  And Schuldig saving her was a meaningless scene.  Everything she had said or did with the German was nothing.  Fuck she was almost starting to like the guy too.  How ridiculous could she be? She decided to deal with those four guys later and focus her concentration on this woman.  Unfortunately Makoto had become a victim in this little children's game and received a heavy blow to the head, swelling her last bruise on her cheek to a fresher colour, thanks to the handle of Aki's gun.  Damn she couldn't believe she let herself be fooled by a classic game that kids loved to tease each other with.    

"Careless, aren't you?" Aki hissed nastily. "People fall for that trick every time." She smiled sadistically almost reminding Makoto of Crawford's infamous grin.  She pushed her head back forward after taking in the new pain in her cheek.  That was a pretty rough hit and not only did her cheek ache but more blood had begun to spread throughout the inside of her mouth again.  

"You're gonna regret fighting me, you know!" Makoto said, twisting her jaw and hearing it crack.  Aki held her gun out still, unaffected by the girl's warning.  In other words, her face was saying 'Yeah like I believe you.' "I mean it, Aki.  You don't know what I can do.  Apart from cook, that is." 

"Show me what you REALLY are capable of then," Aki encouraged.  What the hell? She's trying to sound like Crawford Makoto thought surprisingly.  Well if she wanted a piece of a former Sailor Senshi then she was about to get it.  

Makoto shrugged her shoulders innocently.  Without saying anything else, she punched Aki on the nose, enjoying the nasal bone crack against her fist.  That was how real pain should be inflicted.  To be honest the smack to the cheek wasn't THAT painful.  OK it was at first but it went away in a matter of seconds soon after Makoto had to admit.  The previous pain she had gone through tonight had made her more tolerant to any new attacks.  Geez that sounded unusual out in the open.  Aki winced as she felt her flattened nose.  Ruby red stains started to trickle to her upper lip.  

"Oh my…" She could only say then suddenly cried. "You…you broke my fucking nose.  Grr, you're gonna pay for what you just did."

"How can I? You don't pay me enough on my salary," Makoto amusedly admitted, able to catch Aki curse her in between gritted teeth.  Now that was a predictable reaction.  Hey if she weren't careful she would break a tooth from applying too much pressure in her jaws.  Makoto prepared a block as she noticed Aki was about to attack with her gun handle again.  Their hands pressed against each other powerfully.  The former Sailor Senshi couldn't believe this woman had some sort of strength inside of her.  Was she a fighter as well? Why would she be hiding it? Makoto wasn't hiding her true skill in front of her bitchy manageress.  This wasn't the kitchen.  She wasn't showing her cooking skills.  This was a fight using her bare hands.  The hands that performed remarkably with cutting food and stirring liquids in saucepans.  

Maybe it was the anger these two females had towards each other that made their strength strong.  Yes, this could be the answer, couldn't it? 

"This may sound a little late to say but we don't have to do this," Makoto blurted out as she struggled to push the gun away from her face.  Aki didn't seem to have heard her kind suggestion and wouldn't loosen the tight handgrip.  Looked like she wasn't willing to stop this hand-wrestling match until someone gave up.  Well it was worth a try Makoto thought.  Looked like she had to be serious with her manageress.  Hell she shouldn't be calling Aki that.  Who gave a shit about politeness? Now that Makoto knew for sure that Aki was truly a nasty-minded woman and had a right to be impolite.   She was permitted to call the woman a bitch.

"OK that's it!" Makoto furiously remarked and slammed her body against Aki, pushing them both into a clothes shop window.  The sound of shattering glass was so loud the vibration had spread down the rest of the street.  Anyone could hear it from their apartment windows close by.  After landing on the carpet inside the empty shop, Makoto released her hand from Aki's and started to punch mightily all over her face.  Aki's helpless face switched from left to right as she forcefully let the facial attacks take its toll from the younger Japanese girl.  Makoto was right about what she said.  Aki didn't know what this cook could secretly do.  She was a strong fighter whose fists were like powerful bricks.

Makoto's hands had switched from smashing the face to shaking Aki's shoulders and slamming her back onto the hard surface of the carpet.  Her brain wasn't thinking properly while she continued to pummel the super bitch.  There was no mention of stopping the assault.  She just kept on punishing the woman non-stop with her fighting spirit.  This was what you had to suffer if you pissed a Sailor Senshi off and particularly when it was Makoto you were messing with.  Sailor Jupiter was the Sailor Senshi of Protection and didn't tolerate people attacking her friends or herself with brutality.  

Makoto began to grab long sharp glass bits to scratch Aki all over her face, arms and stomach.  She didn't care that her own hand was bleeding by the sharp surface of the glass piece she was holding as a make-believe weapon.  She wanted to take out this mean lady lying in front of her, make her feel the pain she had created to people she was horrid towards, including the other waitresses.  Talking would have been the more likely decision she would have chosen as the last resort.  But pummelling Aki was the top choice Makoto would have wanted and here she was, doing just that.  Her wish had come true at last and she had a good reason for beating this woman on the ground.

She wanted to see Aki battered, bleeding and crying.  And it was all happening for real.  Time had surpassed swiftly during the moment of punishment Makoto had taken part in.  It may have been short but hell the damage she had done was immense.  The sight of Aki bleeding with scratches and bruises was unbelievable.  She looked worse than Makoto did.  Wasn't this what the former Sailor Senshi wanted, see Aki bleed in suffering? Makoto's mind flashed back to the early hours of day.  

"You want to see Aki bleed, don't you?" Schuldig had told her in the bar.  What a pure chance! He was telling the truth! Makoto thought realistically.  Her breathing had become fast and unequal when she realised the position she was in.   Her hand was in the air, still clutching the jagged glass piece.  Her own blood was trickling down her arm – not that she felt any pain.  She wanted to see more blood leak from Aki.  More blood meant more delight in torture.  Schuldig could see the desire of violence before Makoto could.

Aki's enlarged eyes had the word FEAR screaming out.  Was she really scared of Makoto? This was good.  Oh it was definitely a good sign to say she wanted to give up.  

"You're a bitch, Aki," Makoto said and dropped the bloodstained glass back to the ground.  "We could have been friends from the beginning.  But no you wanted to give me and the other girls a hard time just because you thought you were the boss! Pathetic!"

"You and Schwarz shouldn't have come to my town.  I would have been nicer to you if you weren't such a freak," Aki rudely replied back and coughed up blood from her mouth.  Hearing that sort of comment always made Makoto believe she was an outcast.  She wasn't deformed on the outside like a Youma.  The real identity was what she couldn't show to the public.  She may not be a true Sailor Senshi anymore but the role from the past was still within her.  To everyone else they thought she was a human who was just gifted in the talent she had shown in the kitchen and the fighting arena.

"You and your father are going to the police, Aki and you're gonna tell them what you've been up to," Makoto insisted. "It will make your life easier and you won't be punished any more." Aki's eyes grew more largely with worry.  Guess the word 'punish' was something she didn't want to endure more of tonight.  One look into Makoto's emerald irises and Aki knew she would have to go through more pain from the young cook.  It wasn't worth the risk.  Makoto had proven she was serious in fighting Aki.  

"I have no choice, do I?" Aki murmured, wincing briefly from the pain in her body.  Looked like she was doing the right thing in agreeing with Makoto, who had proven she was superior in the battle zone tonight.  Aki had lost.  She had to admit it.  The two assassins she had hired had failed their duty and the ones known as Schwarz had betrayed her.  Makoto slowly lifted her body up from Aki.  The pain had come back into her body once the adrenalin wore off.  Her hands had become runny and wet from the fresh blood leaking, even though it had lessened in quantity.  She had won this fight - only by a close call though.  Celebration would be done once she got back home after a nice shower to nurse her battered physique.

"Hey, Makoto," Aki beckoned.  The longhaired brunette looked up from observing her own injuries when she heard name being called.  Makoto's main thought was what Aki would want to say as her last minute plea.  But she wasn't able to get a straight answer when something small flew into her left shoulder.  Oh damn she forgot about Aki's gun that had been lying on the floor after she threw it out of Aki's hand while punching her face.  Suddenly a sharp scrape flew across her stomach.  It was Makoto's turn to see her blood spray across the room.  She was bleeding heavily again.

"W-why? You could have…" Her hands clasped firmly on her punctured abdomen.  She needed surgery to fix her stomach.  This was the second time this part had been attacked again.  Aki forced her onto her knees and looked down.  Her eyes had changed from being scared to being sadistic.  That was who she was.  Aki dropped the empty gun to the floor and grabbed a fresh glass piece.  

"I'm gonna do what you did to me," She taunted and aimed the glass into Makoto's chest.  The target was the heart.  Makoto knew it.  The woman wanted her dead.  She was more than a mere nuisance to the manageress.  The so-called rivalry she had had to put up with was making Aki do something drastic.  "Sayonara." Roaring, she pulled her arm back to prepare her deadly stab into the helpless victim.  Makoto didn't have to wear hearing aids to know Aki was laughing.  She awaited the end to her live body patiently in her kneeling position.  However a last minute idea came.  She had to pick her glass piece up.  It was right next to her hand.  All Makoto had to do was pick up and stick into Aki's stomach.  Then it would be all over.

This was going to be one of the biggest regrets Makoto was going to encounter.  But it was the only way to stop Aki from going more insane.  She knew she could grab the glass near her.  She was a fighter and Aki wasn't.  Taking her eyes away from the woman, Makoto swiftly drew the jagged glass into her hand and did what she had to do.  And that was to stab her in one shot.  However the target wasn't the heart.   It was across Aki's neck, which meant an instant kill.  Makoto watched her choke and her hand reached to the long scrape across her throat.  The redness in the blood was richly bright like the petals of a freshly bloomed rose.  

No sound came from her open mouth when she attempted to speak in her kneeling position.  It was obvious what she was trying to say.  She had said the word 'Bitch' before dropping to the carpet, which now had a deep red colour rather than its usual cream coloured surface.  Although Makoto's blood had dried onto her hands it had become stained yet again with Aki's blood and this only meant that she had become something sinister.  She was officially a murderer.  This wasn't how she expected her desire to fight to turn out.  Had her craving taken her too far? 

"Oh man…" Makoto whispered guiltily.  

"Gott, look at the mess," Schuldig's familiar German tone came from behind her.  Makoto pulled two of her front strands out of her eyes as she turned around to see the same four figures reappear in the night.    

Crawford examined the dead body on the carpet.  His light brown eyes squinted behind the thin rims of his glasses.  "She's dead.  The slice to the neck was an instant kill.  Not bad…"

"Well, Fraulein, guess we underestimated you," Schuldig joked.  Makoto still glared at him and Crawford.  She looked angrier than Oracle did on a bad day.  "What's wrong? You killed Aki.  You should be celebrating, right?"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!" Makoto shrieked heatedly.  Her fists pulled into the air and the crackling sound of electricity emerged.  She was going to take out Schuldig and Crawford for making a mess out of her.  The guilt inside of the Japanese girl disappeared.  Her mind had now become full of anger just like the first time she met them.  Aki was one problem.  Now she had another.  She wanted to beat the hell out these guys.  They set her up and she was going to get them back.

TBC.

Regarding the flames on Usagi Mary Sues okay D-chan said she didn't remember flaming my story because someone was using her name and she normally signs in when reviewing stories.  She apologized anyhow.  Just want to let you know that you guys don't have to worry too much and get any angrier now, ok? Everything is sorted out. But D-chan's points on there being millions of Mary Sues in Usagi at the crossovers section are all agreeable and make plenty of sense to me FYI. So I hope everything is cool now.  


	13. ch 13

Schwarz Blitz 13

AN: **This chapter has an R rating this time**

**WARNING** ~ There is a bit of lime near the end of the chapter. Unless you're underage or don't like lime, you shouldn't read it and move on to the epilogue straight away ^_^;; 

****

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!" Makoto shrieked above the sinister sound of her electrical energy. As she roared like a vicious feline, a Sparkling Wide Pressure formed from her hands and flew across the air. 

"What the…?" Schuldig stated in surprise when he saw the electrical cyclone come towards him and Crawford. They evaded in time as the flying object zoomed past them and the other two Schwarz team members, zooming across the other side of the street. Everyone's ears could hear the low electricity crackling among what was left of the public telephone box. "Whoa," was all the German could say. They switched their gazes back to the enraged female opposite them. 

"Shit," She moodily murmured Bet Crawford didn't predict this. Schuldig picked this thought up and turned to the American, informing him on what she said. Crawford merely shrugged, meaning he had no clue as what she was talking about. Well that was a change. So Oracle didn't predict events this far into the future, did he? Unless he was lying of course. To Schwarz, something was definitely up with this girl. Why was she attacking them? Shouldn't she be celebrating like Schuldig said? From looking at the bruised face of Makoto, everyone knew that she was in no mood to celebrate. In fact she was still in this little party of hers. Her version of a party included fighting and beating the shit out of people.

"What is your problem, Fraulein?" Schuldig demanded half-angrily and half-shocked. Makoto told him to shut up and charged towards him. Her fists went into a punching frenzy. Mastermind was only just able to dodge each move coming at him. Thank the heavens his agility had come to good use here but it didn't prevent the Japanese girl from stopping any more attacks towards her target. Hell she didn't care where she was hitting – just as long it hit this guy. 

"Schuldig!" Nagi called to the German with concern, wondering how the hell he was going to help out. He and Farfarello drew nearer to the crazy brunette, who continued to throw kicks and punches to Schuldig's limited defence. 

Crawford approached them both, ignoring the loud grunts Makoto and Schuldig were releasing through their defences and attacks. "Farfarello, Nagi, go to the car and wait there."

"Crawford-san, we don't wish to leave you here…" Prodigy began to argue disagreeably though had no choice but to discontinue his opinion when he saw the Schwarz leader stare at him warningly. 

"This fight won't last any longer now," The American said. "Keep an eye on the street in case any more men come along." Hearing the second order sounded more valid and a worthwhile reason to leave the leader alone. Nagi and Farfarello sprinted away from the wide open shop window. Whoever owned this Benetton shop was in for a hard time tomorrow morning. What would the shop owner say when she finds her shop window completely smashed ajar? Crawford could only watch his German teammate tolerate the rage Makoto was demonstrating. How was he going to come in and aid Mastermind?

This kind of fight reminded Schuldig of the earlier days when they first met. Makoto was angry with him, assuming instantly that they were men who had nothing better than do than piss a lonely girl off. So why would she be at it again? She should be thanking them for the information they gave her on what Aki was up to tonight. Crawford should be the main man to thank. He was the one who saw most of the visions. This was what brought Schwarz to this area of Osaka. This was where the enemy was and where Makoto was too. 

"I hate you…" Makoto huffily moaned. "You screwed me up. You…" She stopped to throw a roundhouse kick to the German's cheek, which only resulted as a light touch to the skin rather than a mighty attack that she normally could pull off on people. Her brain didn't seem to care that Schuldig's agility was helping him through his defensive moves. Her eyes almost seemed blind as she kept on attacking, not focusing in a direction properly. 

Mastermind swore in German when he spotted Makoto's hand develop new electricity in her right hand. The lightning uppercut narrowly missed his chin as he ascended into the air to land a few feet away from his female opponent. What was wrong with her?

"You're more insane in the head than Farfarello is," Schuldig commented.

"It's all your fault!" Makoto yelled. "You hear me! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I hate…ahhh!!!" Her sharp green eyes suddenly opened up to a more realistic view when she saw her right hand had been caught in a strong grab. The clasp was so tight it was able to force a scream out of her. Schuldig wasn't smiling like he usually was when the playful mood was there. He was more serious than before. Wow he wasn't laughing or smiling for once. Was that a relief? Makoto wasn't sure how to respond. Her main concern was to get her hand out of his grasp.

She tried to low kick him in the ankle but like a robot it didn't seem to affect him. This bastard was being a real fighter now, wasn't he? That was what she wanted in the first place. 

"Let my hand go," Makoto ordered silently. Mastermind wouldn't listen. His hand remained tightly around her wrist, slowly cutting off the blood circulation off. "Damn you, let me go!!!" Schuldig didn't say anything as he read her mind. What the hell? He was seeing red in her. The desire to fight and injure was clearly visual, which Schuldig didn't mind obviously. But it seemed to be taken over by the anger. There was another sort of desire though. Desire for revenge. Now he could see where she was coming from. She wanted a fair fight against him. Seemed the teasing got to her a little too much.

"Is that all you're mad about?" Schuldig asked /You don't have to be all serious about that, Fraulein/.

"Man, you don't get it, Schuldig!" Makoto shrieked, not letting a wince take over her body. Her anger was making him crush her hand more each minute. "I almost got killed tonight. I've got every right to be fucking mad!!!!!! Your teasing over the week made me get into this mess!" She clumsily pulled her left arm into a punch to aim for the German man's shoulder but the bullet from the previous minute was still in place and she dragged it back to her hip. 

"Not in good shape, are you?" Mastermind noticed. Was that humour in his voice? Now she was more likely to be angrier with him than ever if he decided to restart his teasing on her. She was about to reply when he interrupted. "I mean it, Makoto. Shouldn't have tried to punch with that arm if you knew it was injured."

"Dammit I forgot, ok?!" She said impolitely. "Look let me go, man. Please…" Her head bowed down until the top of her brown head came in front of Schuldig's face. "Just…I can't take this…" She sniffed quietly, much to the surprise of the telepath. Why was she crying out of the blue? Gott, this girl is upset. Guess she has a point… Schuldig thought. How could tears ruin a beautiful face? It didn't suit her. Who could blame her for crying? She had gone through so much tonight from being beaten by those guys (including Farfarello stabbing her though it wasn't meant to be that convincingly painful) and by the bitch called Aki. 

"Fraulein," Schuldig said, "I didn't expect this much violence to happen to you. I…"

"As if you give a fuck," Makoto remarked. "First you tease me like hell to make me think insanely then the next day you act all nice and tell me that Aki is up to something. Jeez, what is up with you men?" Her face lifted upwards to reveal the bruises that had become stained with her tears. "And what do I get as another present of yours? A brutal beating." She wiped her eyes dry then shut them briefly in a focused trance. Schuldig knew what was coming. She was going to use her electricity again. It was her solution to escape from him. But she was tired, wasn't she? It was beautiful to be brave like that however he was concerned about her condition. Hell like SHE gave fuck about herself he thought. 

"AHHHHH!!!!!!!" Makoto was charging her electricity a lot longer. She wanted to make this Supreme Thunder larger than her normal one. This was going to be aimed at the orange haired bastard standing in front of her. It was going to be one hell of a shock. "SUPREME…" Get ready to jump Schuldig told himself, observing the bright blue currents vibrating against his hand. He could see the former Senshi side coming out. So this was how Sailor Jupiter fought in battle. The beauty was there and so was the strength of a fighter. She was one heck of a woman. "…THUNDE...AHH!" Makoto's voice was cut off unexpectedly. Schuldig darted his eyes behind her and saw the reason for her interruption. Crawford had decided to forget about being annoyed by the German on general occasions and give him a helping hand. He was in a kneeling position and his arm had outstretched across Makoto's abdomen. 

"Ow…that really hurt." The electricity forming from Makoto disappeared and her body gently collapsed. Schuldig automatically released his hand off her wrist and pulled her unconscious form in his arms. Her face leaned closely into the folds of his jacket. 

"I had to make sure the time was right to attempt a sneak attack," Crawford explained. "The vision I had of her using her power on you was very faint."

"Well, at least you got her to stop going crazy," Schuldig replied. "Vielen Dank." Sirens blasted down the empty road. That could only mean the police. They must have found Mr Honda's dead body and were on the way to find the corpse of his daughter. Remaining soldiers who worked for Mr Honda must have called the police up to inform them of the murders. Mastermind and Oracle had to make their getaway right now. Their transport was waiting for them in a darker end of the road and they didn't waste time escaping, in time to avoid being seen by the incoming policemen who had arrived at the broken window of the clothes shop. 

Crawford took the steering wheel and started to drive speedily in the jeep. 

"What do we do about the police?" Nagi asked the leader.

"Schuldig will deal with that," Crawford answered, his eyes peering through the mirror to look at the passenger seat, which was occupied by Schuldig and Nagi. Schuldig only muttered a simple 'uh-huh' in his seat to confirm his reply to accept Crawford's task. Farfarello turned around in his seat to see the fiery haired German keeping his eyes on the sleeping girl leaning on his shoulders. The eyebrow above his one amber eye rose curiously before he pivoted back to the front and watched the road. Schuldig liked looking at that girl, didn't he?

****

Nagi used his telekinesis power to clear away the messy couch, making it free for Schuldig to place Makoto down on the furniture in a sitting position, her head leaning back. 

"Let's clean this young Fraulein up, shall we?" He suggested appropriately. Nagi came in with a first aid kit that he found in the kitchen and sat by the German, taking out all sorts of bandages and plasters. The bottom of Makoto's cotton shirt was torn up on the back and front, clearly displaying the deep cuts on the lower back and front abdomen. This cleaning up routine may take a while.

"Do you think it's wise to…?" Turning Makoto's back around, Nagi's blue eyes gazed to the shirt dangling from underneath the short leather jacket. 

Schuldig laughed, knowing what the boy was thinking. "Nagi, she's out cold. She won't notice anything." Prodigy was too embarrassed to say it. Demonstrating the fact he was unaffected by *any* embarrassment at all, Schuldig didn't say a word as he removed the leather jacket off the Japanese girl. The bloodstain from the bullet wound had sieved into the T-shirt to give the garment a more crimson shade to the purple coloured material. It was a relief that Crawford was able to hit her in a weak spot on her body, enabling her to lose consciousness in a matter of seconds. This work would be easier if she was asleep. If she were awake, Makoto would still be mad in the head and demand that nobody touched her; even if it was to help her injuries. She was so damn sensitive in her mind and body. 

Nagi's face flew into a startled expression when Schuldig unbuttoned the purple shirt and took it off the girl who was sitting in between them. He could tell Mastermind was enjoying this job. 

"Hey, hey you're becoming a man already, Nagi," Schuldig teased and watched the young Japanese boy flush a little. "You'll get used to it. Be thankful that this female is pretty. You can let your imagination flow freely." He winked and gazed down at the now half-exposed figure in front of him. Well he had to admit, the black satin bra she had on was very alluring but his seriousness on removing the bullet from her shoulder took control in his mind. Since she wasn't awake, taking out the bullet with tweezers were hassle-free and there was no screaming or complaining from the patient. 

The scars on the lower abdomen were in the way of her truly smooth skin. At the moment everywhere felt rough and unclean. Nagi used special cream to handle the wound on the lower back. It didn't seem to be as unsightly as the front injury. If Aki hadn't have scratched Makoto across the stomach, Schuldig wouldn't have to spend longer time working on that part of the body. Farfarello's piercing did go through her, yes, but it was meant to be healable. Aki just happened to ruin it and make the wound worse. 

That bitch Aki got what she deserved Schuldig thought Nobody should have hurt Makoto like that. She's mine. After placing a plaster onto Makoto's abdomen, the German lifted her sleepy head to start on the bruises. He knew someone had stamped on her cheek. A shoe mark was just about distinguishable on the facial skin. Makoto must have spat some blood out after getting a foot on her face. It was natural for someone like her to do such an act. Tasting your own blood only made you fight more and increased the aggression inside of you.

/Schuldig, you're quiet tonight/ Nagi said. 

/Tch, you noticed, ja?/ The orange-haired German used a clean cloth to wipe Makoto's cheeks. 

Prodigy smiled lightly /You like her a lot, don't you? Everyone knows. Even Crawford/. Schuldig snorted with a giggle and mentioned that Oracle liked as well. He just had an unusual way of showing it. It wasn't in the desirable fashion that Mastermind had developed. It was in the way of a 'Yeah, she's pretty' statement. The appeal towards the opposite gender didn't sound as intriguing in this sort of comment. Schuldig, on the other hand, was the only one who loved to torment her. And this was what she got as a result. Was she right on him getting her into this mess? Maybe it was Crawford who was to blame the most. But it sounded inappropriate to blame the leader.

He had plenty of respect among his teammates. Schuldig would disagree with Crawford being the blame. He himself would gladly say it was his fault. He made fun of her in the first place and should be the accused one, shouldn't he? 

"Yeah I like her. She's different in my eyes," Schuldig stated happily, looked down at Makoto and pulled a strand of hair out of her face. The bruises would be gone and so would the scars. She'll be in for another surprise tomorrow morning. "Aggression makes mind-reading delightful. Most of the females I read are damn hideous and full of crap." 

"How is she?" Crawford came into the living room after putting Farfarello in his usual sleeping area, which was to be chained upside down in his straitjacket. His eyebrows spontaneously arced into a curious expression when he saw the half-naked female figure lying on the couch.

"Whoa there, Crawford, don't get too carried away with the sight," Schuldig joked. The comment was meant to be humorous, in the same way he spoke to Nagi-kun a minute ago. His victim was intriguing everyone in the room. Hold on. Was it still okay to say victim? It was more of his fantasy than a victim. He loved imagining fight scenes with her. Even Makoto herself thought of being in fights of her own, which made the mind reading twice as amusing for Schuldig.

"Get some sleep, Mastermind," Crawford commanded strictly. "We'll have to deal with the police tomorrow."

"Sounds fine to me," Schuldig answered. Oracle and Prodigy left the telepath alone to head towards their rooms. It was hard to notice how the night had gone by so quickly. There was a mixture of fun and brutality tonight. Schuldig wasn't sure whether to be amused or not by any of the events that had happened. Makoto had eliminated her target and Schwarz had dealt with theirs without any problems at all. The remaining job to do was to cover up the murders. How was the Japanese girl going to cope now after murdering someone for the first time? She was alone in this life. Schuldig didn't mean to let the sympathy wash over him. He was part of Schwarz. 

He decided to take the sleeping beauty with him to his room. It would be nice to give the girl a nice 'Guten Morgen' as soon as she opened her eyes in a few hours time. The mattress didn't make any sound at all when he gently dropped Makoto onto the huge bed. Her head didn't appear to be in a comfortable position and Schuldig realised it was her ponytail that was causing this. Who cared if she could feel him putting her hair down? Schuldig was doing a favour to give her a good night sleep. 

He took off his headband and sunglasses off his head and leaned over the sleeping Japanese girl, touching her forehead with the back of his hand. The softness towards the former Sailor Senshi of Thunder made him smile helplessly while he went into her sleeping mind. He could see why people respected her. She was a protective guardian, wasn't she? Even that Queen said so. Sailor Jupiter served her well in the past, it seemed. Oh damn I forgot Schuldig exited from her mind to get back into reality. He had to put a shirt on her. She would go into a tantrum if she realised that her shirt was still in the living room. Thinking quickly, Mastermind placed her into his jacket. It was better than nothing and he would be happy to explain to her what he and Nagi had done to her injuries once she woke up. Smiling satisfyingly, he turned around to make his way into the bathroom to freshen himself up.

****

Makoto's eyelids slowly opened and she found herself in a room that was barely recognisable. This wasn't her apartment. That was clear to see in the dark. Why did her body feel so rough and heavy? What was the material surrounding her? She sat up from the bed and felt her body. Was this leather?! Since when did she wear leather to bed? That was not like her. Her instincts ordered her to check her full physique right away. Her purple shirt wasn't on. Someone had taken off her shirt for fuck's sake. 

Who dared do that? She wanted to punch that person now. From examining her body, Makoto noticed that the bullet was gone and a plaster was on the left shoulder. Her abdomen also had plasters on too. This meant something else too. The pain was gone. She felt…normal again. In other words she was back to full health (hopefully). Someone let my hair down as well. No wonder my head felt comfortable Makoto thought in surprise and jumped out of bed to check her reflection in the full-view mirror that stood on the wall. So her mind wasn't playing tricks. Curiosity dug into her skin and insisted that she removed the plasters off her wounds. Taking the tape off hurt briefly but it was easy to take the plaster off without further problems. 

Wow whoever put this on her did a good job. The scars didn't seem as big as before. No traces of bloodstains could be seen on any other part of her body. The bruises didn't hurt and had lightened in terms of blackness. This was a miracle. An angel had saved her, didn't it? But why would an angel bring her here to his unknown place? Who lived here? Makoto rubbed her eyes while she looked more closely at her reflection, namely the leather jacket she was given. It looked oddly familiar. It then didn't take her three guesses to realise whose clothing it was. This was Schuldig's jacket. 

Damn she was starting to smell of him too. Various scenarios played in her mind of what the German Bishounen had done to her tonight. Was he the one to have stripped her of her clothes? Apart from feeling nervous, the thought of having a man observing her body without permission made her worried as well as extremely angry. She was in good shape to make a getaway. It would be a piece of cake to leave through the door without any noise. I should get out of here while I still can Makoto decided.

"Surely you don't intend to leave in *my* jacket," Schuldig's voice rang in her ears and through the mirror Makoto saw him hovering behind her back. 

"Did you do this?" She questioned about her new 'exposed' look. 

"I had no choice," Schuldig explained, understanding what she meant. "Don't worry though. I didn't do anything *harmful* to you." His hand fondled her wavy brunette strands, looking in the same direction as her reflection. "Why do you want to leave? You should be sleeping, ja? Someone like you deserves rest."

"Excuse me, German but you're not my parent," Makoto barked, frowning out of the blue when she found his hands turning her around to face him in the flesh. She couldn't help reacting like that because he wasn't wearing anything except a pair of shorts. His orange hair was also naturally flowing around his shoulders. He looked like another man without the headband and sunglasses perching on top of his head. Desire travelled into her veins as she looked at him. 

"Makoto, don't hide yourself from me," Schuldig encouraged. "I know you want some fun. Your mind is asking for it." His hands trailed down from her cheeks, neck and downward to her hips. She wasn't aware that his fingers were playing with the lower part of his jacket lapels, almost exposing her bare physique. "I didn't think my favourite coat looked good on you, Fraulein." Makoto couldn't resist the strokes his fingers were giving to her neck. His breath felt so warm as he whispered to her in her ear. "You don't want to be alone, do you?" 

She wasn't able to say anything to him. How could she talk when his right hand had moved underneath and begun to caress her back? His question repeated over and over in her brain. Did she want to be alone or not? Hey she was used to it. She could take care of herself in one apartment with or without the presence of her Sailor Senshi team. They were friends yeah but when it came to living in a home, she could do it without their help. However from Schuldig's point of view, it seemed he meant having the company of a guy. Was she in the mood for a Bishounen like him to take away the loneliness?

Makoto gulped, unsure on how to reply Well he isn't so bad…is he?. Schuldig voluntarily unfastened the belt holding her combat trousers up and watched it fall from her waist. Makoto's brain wasn't functioning in time to see she was panting in a nervous rhythm. Desire had overpowered her this time and she didn't know about being able to control it. 

/Sleep with me, Makoto/ His voice reiterated in her brain. This guy was stronger than she was when it came to the mind. She couldn't fight his mind manipulation. And her strange attraction towards a Bishounen like him over the past days was making her weaker by the minute. Within a blink of an eye, Schuldig had whisked the leather coat off the puzzled Japanese girl and at once took her to the huge bed awaiting them. 

M-my head. It's hurting me Makoto felt so wheezy while she lay on the mattress. Schuldig's face leaned closer to hers and long orange strands tickled across her chest as he looked over her. Their eyes locked into each other. He *was* gorgeous. How could she not pay attention to his looks? Anger from being teased was all that went into her head and the appeal from his looks kept deteriorating each time they met. Then she realised that he was playing with her thoughts again. This time, however, he seemed to be overpowering her a lot more than usual and Makoto knew she wasn't able to fight him tonight. 

Grinning seductively, Schuldig lifted her body up to search for the clasp of her bra behind her back and tore it away instantly. Makoto's hands seemed to automatically reach out and stroke Schuldig's chest and back. The girl's feminine fingers that were normally used for fighting had taken a softer path this time. They glided through Schuldig's hair as he laid her down again and planted a shower of short kisses to the crevice of her breasts. She groaned delightfully. Scratches from all ten fingers sent a tiny growl out of Schuldig's throat though he found very enticing from someone who was aggressive and beautiful like Makoto. She was nearly more fun loving as he was. 

"You've done this before, haven't you?" Schuldig asked her while gently massaging her stomach and the roundness of her rear. Makoto knew he would get it sooner or later from reading her thoughts and memories. Of course she had done this before. It was just long ago that's all. 

"How about we go for the real thing?" An amusingly horny tone could be detected in his voice and it was making Makoto feel lots of pleasure. 

"D-do what you have to do," Makoto answered I-I can't fight him. His power is too strong. He wants me…and I want him. D-don't wanna be lonely.

/There, there Makoto. Let me take care of you/ Schuldig smiled with assurance then heavily kissing her lips in deeper passion. She hadn't been like this with a man for a long time and the desirable side had been unleashed, thanks to Schuldig. She had proven she didn't want to be lonely. And the telepath was there for her. They were prepared for a long night of bliss. 

****

"Ohayo, Crawford-san," Nagi greeted to the American as he came into the kitchen with a newspaper folded underneath his arm. Breakfast couldn't be anymore traditional than eggs on toast. Crawford had come back from buying the newspaper in the supermarket and to check what the police were up to in the morning. It looked like the investigation was still underway and they had considered this to be a murder case. Mr Honda could have become another Takatori Reiji if he had too much on his hands. And Estet didn't want that happening again. His daughter Aki could have become an extremely corrupted businesswoman once she and her father took over places such as Estet or Rosenkrueß. 

"I've already fed Farfarello his breakfast," Nagi said to the Schwarz leader. Crawford nodded as he sat by the dining table and ate his piece of toast behind the ruffling pages of his newspaper. He spotted the young Japanese boy turning his head towards Schuldig's room then to the empty couch in the living room. Only Makoto's shirt lay on the leather furniture, which meant one obvious aspect. 

"I know what went on last night," Crawford broke the silence, shaking his head and laughing a little.

TBC. Oh hell it's the epilogue next. Just press the forward button and start reading, people. 


	14. ch 14

Schwarz Blitz 14 (epilogue)

AN: This chapter isn't as dark as the previous ones, which makes a change ^_^;; And yes it is true. The story is dark as a whole and I wanted it like that. Not all stories have to all fluffy and cute ^_^;;

****

Makoto felt the true fatigue really hitting her as she lay among the covers. Morning light shone through the binds and if her nose didn't make any mistake, there was the smell of toast and eggs in the kitchen. The former must have been left to burn for too long in the toaster machine. Why else did the burning smell have to be strong? Makoto found her loose hair scrunched against something warm and soft. Then everything from last night flooded back into her memory bank. She had one hell of a time last night with Schuldig. It was a night to remember. The telepath's arm had spread across her stomach and she moved it gently to break free from his protective hold. 

He was probably still asleep. But wow he looked very innocent in this state. Perhaps more attractive when he wasn't a teaser. Pulling away the cover from her side, Makoto searched for her bra and panties from underneath the bed though wasn't having luck. Where the hell was her prized lingerie? Without it she wouldn't be able to leave the room without any clothes on. Or even underwear to be sillier. She was about to swear until a tap on the shoulder averted her to search further on her side of the bed. Makoto pivoted her face to the left and received a delicious kiss as her morning greeting. 

Schuldig held her shoulders tightly as he pulled her down into the sheets again and continued to fill her mouth with his taste. Makoto wrapped her hands round his entire waist, enjoying this session with him. Disrupting the kiss, Schuldig dangled something in front if her emerald eyes, giving her a small jump. His hands held her black lingerie set in the air.

"Thanks," She took her lingerie off him and sat back up to put them on. Makoto wasn't used to having an audience watch her dress. It felt too awkward for her to handle at the moment. She faced forward and saw Schuldig with a wicked grin on his face.

"I'm remembering everything we did last night," He said smoothly, knowing what question she wanted to ask from looking at her face. "Admit it though. You loved it." Makoto ignored his comment as she fastened her trousers back on. Now the main priority was to find her shirt. It must still be outside in the living room. Schuldig didn't seem to be finished with playing with her this morning. "Fraulein, you haven't answered me."

"Yeah so?" She answered impatiently. 

"Tell me you admit enjoying what we did and I'll give you a shirt to wear."

"Hey my shirt is outside…"

"Your shirt is torn to bits. No point in wearing that," Schuldig got up from the bed and rummaged in the wardrobe. Makoto could hear the hangers flick past on the bar and it was sort of nice to see Schuldig's back. She blinked furiously to make her senses wake up and watched the German Bishounen fish out a clean white shirt and offered it to her. Makoto's hands reached for the shirt but Schuldig backed away. What was this supposed to mean? "Tell me you enjoyed last night and I'll lend you this shirt."

"What?" Makoto gasped slightly at the little threat. 

"You heard me, Makoto," Schuldig winked. "Come on, tell your baby Schu that you had fun THEN he'll give you a shirt for today." The Japanese girl opened her mouth to argue but then shut it completely when she thought about this for longer minutes. She looked stupid posing shirtless with only a pair of trousers on. How long could she stand here like this? A small smile parted through her lips as she stared at Schuldig, who was indeed delighted that she had responded with this confession. He passed the shirt to Makoto, who immediately snatched it off his hands to quickly button it on. OK so it was too large but it was temporary until she went back home. 

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Schuldig stated, nuzzling her neck while she combed her hair by observing her reflection. Her hand stopped brushing halfway through her hair, which meant that she had something in mind. /What is it?/ Schuldig asked. 

"Schuldig, even though you did something to my head last night…you sort of opened me up," Makoto confessed strangely. "I tapped into my true inner strength and used it to…" She grimaced unusually and became awfully silent at the same time. Flashbacks of fighting Aki appeared out of nowhere. Dammit why did she have to think through all that again? How could she forget she was a murderer now? This wasn't a good turn of her career, was it?

"Makoto, murdering someone for the first time does take a while to settle into your system." Schuldig clarified nonchalantly while changing into his usual clothes that he wore everyday. "Believe me, Nagi has to cope with this sort of stuff at times and he's the youngest. You're not the only one who suffers." He brought his hand to Makoto's face, admiring the smoothness her skin's texture truly had on the outside. He could sense her trusting him. It was in her eyes. She wasn't looking pissed off with him any longer. It seemed to be gone now. Instead those pools of jade had become filled in sadness, solitude and a need for companionship. On the one hand, Schuldig loved to see her fight as well. If only she would agree to stay with him.

"I think you and Schwarz are the only guys who understand then, right?" Makoto guessed quietly. 

The fiery haired man dragged her closer, "Ja, Fraulein. You are correct." He took her arm and escorted her out of the bedroom into the living room. The first face he saw was Crawford, who had that curious façade written all over him. 

/I'm not surprised with what you did/ Oracle said and put his newspaper down. 

/Yeah well, it was gonna happen, right?/ Mastermind replied /I bet you saw a vision of us going at it/ He winked to him behind Makoto's head then followed her into the kitchen to see Nagi cleaning his dish after having his breakfast.

"Ohayo, Schuldig. Makoto-san," Nagi's startled head turned around from the sink, politeness washed onto his face and he bowed respectfully. Makoto greeted the boy back in Japanese. He was the only one who truly had the Japanese culture and she had to admit she hadn't spoken to a real Japanese person in a while. Everyone else around her was from another country.

/Hey Nagi. Pretty flower, isn't she?/ Schuldig winked. Prodigy stilled and blushed shyly before returning to his duty in washing by the sink. Oh man Makoto thought, embarrassed. She had a feeling she knew what Nagi thought about her and it was understandable. The poor boy wasn't quite used to his hormones, was he? At times she wished she were telepathic too so she would be able to pick up what Schuldig was saying behind her back.

"Schuldig, don't forget your job," Crawford called from the dining table. 

"Ja, ja got it, Oracle," Schuldig said confidently and chewed into his toast. 

****

Makoto waited outside the café, which now had a FOR SALE sign sitting by the window. After leaving Schwarz's apartment to visit her friends, she assumed Schuldig had gone to do some super mind trick to the police in the local station, giving them another story to push them away from the murder of Mr Honda and his daughter. More victims to the Mastermind were what the police were. She was one of them though she couldn't do anything about it. And the truth was, she had grown used to it. Schuldig wanted to take care of her and not make her feel lonely. Especially because she had been involved in this murder case.

Makoto expected that talking to Jun, Mei and Yuka about what happened last night would be as hard as learning equations off by heart. They were lucky to have been deep asleep in their rooms and didn't hear any glass smashing and screaming last night across the street. At the moment they considered themselves to be unemployed now that they heard the news of Aki and her father's murder. Obviously the former Sailor Senshi wasn't able to tell her that she was involved in any of this. She'd lose their trust and friendship without a doubt, wouldn't she? Somehow a journalist outside the café caught their attention and offered them free vacancies at a hotel company looking for new recruits. It was the company's way of showing their sympathy for the suffering they had gone through because of Aki. 

They had to be honest. They were glad she was out of their lives. And so was Makoto. The three waitresses had to move to the main centre of Tokyo for their new job and it meant they would never see Makoto again. It sounded better for them to be moving away. They wouldn't know she was an aggressive person at all and this kind of barrier ought to stay up for as long as it took. Makoto would feel at ease to know they were in a safe place, away from someone like her. 

Makoto moved over to the main road when she recognised Schuldig's red car pull over to the side and the driver window came down automatically. 

"So how did it go?" Makoto queried. 

"They've gone on another case. The murder of Mr Honda and his daughter has been left unsolved permanently," Schuldig replied. "How do you feel?"

"Better. Thanks," She answered, smiling a little. The passenger door opened and she acceptably stepped into the car. Her hand was instantly clasped within Schuldig's palm and he moved in to kiss her quickly on the cheek before straightening back into his seat. Makoto felt all the warmth fall into her when she sat close to him and she couldn't stop looking at how sexy he appeared, particularly with the gorgeous grin he loved to show off.

"Where are you off to now?" Schuldig asked. Makoto's face hardened unsurprisingly from the logical question. Yes what was she to do now? Schuldig may have done her a favour by making the police move onto another case and forget about Aki being murdered but it still left a gap in Makoto's life. What was she to do now? She was a supposed fugitive. 

"Hey, why don't you come work with Schwarz, Makoto?" He recommended. "Crawford agrees with me that you would make a great asset to us. Your fighting skill and electrical ability may come in useful." The German tilted her chin to his direction. His voice became softer. "And you don't have to be alone anymore, Fraulein. You have me, ja?"

Makoto forced her silly fantasies (that were related to them having fun last night) out of her head. This wasn't the main reason to join, was it? No. Schuldig had shown her that she was a stronger fighter than ever before in her earlier days as a Sailor Senshi. To be honest she guessed she had become more powerful in her mind and body altogether. And the desire to fight for justice always remained in her heart. 

"The pay will be better, right?" Makoto asked humorously. 

The German laughed hysterically and threw his head back against the support of his seat. That was an answer he wouldn't expect from her. "Yeah of course, Makoto. It'll be better than Aki's job. Who knows? Crawford may pay you more than me." He giggled and Makoto smiled warmly to him. God, Schuldig loved her smile. She looked attractive when she was either angry or happy. Whatever emotion she had each time, her beauty never left her in his opinion. 

"OK, I'll join," Makoto accepted the offer. "And one more thing…" She propped closer to the orange haired man, tilting her head to rest it on his right shoulder. "Thanks." That was all she could say. There were many reasons for thanking him but she was sure Schuldig would work them out without any problems. He could just find out from her mind in less than a second. However the main reason was for helping her understand who she was deep inside, discovering her inner strength and for letting her know that she could talk to someone who had already killed people in the past. The last statement may sound awkward to others though it was the best thing Makoto had. She could talk to someone who cared about her and who would help her get through the blues of murdering someone for the first time.

Schuldig caressed her hair briefly then let her sit up to start the car again. "Let's go back to our quarters then. See what Crawford has to say." 

"I'm with you," Makoto agreed. The car sped off down the street. Makoto was going to start another life. One which was guaranteed to be better. A life which involved working in Schwarz and where she would be using her skills – martial arts and lightning. Makoto was like lightning among Schwarz. Or as Schuldig put it in his own language, she was Schwarz Blitz. In other words - black lightning! 

END.

Wow this took a lot of editing and re-thinking. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to do this. Well that's it for now. I'm too tired to write anymore ^_^;; I need rest!!!! Comments would be appreciated. 


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